NX02 - Columbia
by Cinn
Summary: A collection of adventures from the NX02-Columbia. Are they prepared for what they might find in their own exploration? Their mission starts at the deep end, during the events of Affliction and Divergence, but that's not where it ends.
1. Intro

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill. There is a note for cannon pedants at the end.

Cinn: It's been a while since I've tried my hand at sci-fi let alone Star Trek fanfic. But somehow watching TOS and the new series coming out gave me some ideas on what fun could be had by exploring potentials for the NX-02 Columbia.

I should probably state that it's been a long while since I saw Enterprise, and my knowledge of the cannon outside the series themselves is sketchy at best. So if this doesn't fit in with cannonical novels etc then I apologise.

This covers the Columbia's appearances in ENT S4, serving as an introduction to it's crew before moving onto separate adventures.

* * *

Captain Erika Hernandez was incredibly grateful that the engineers had at least been able to get the kitchen up and running, sipping the coffee that was currently energising her for the day ahead. Last night had been the first she'd spent in her new quarters on the _Columbia_ , and whilst it had been no less comfortable than her years on the _Republic_ , it was as yet unfamiliar, and had proven to be less relaxing than she had anticipated.

The coffee at least enabled her to wake up enough to understand the schematics she was scrolling through, the _Columbia's_ departure had been delayed due to engine difficulties, but she had since been able to persuade Commander Charles Tucker to transfer from the _Enterprise_ and become her chief engineer, apparently it was becoming a habit for her to steal members of other people's crew after requisitioning the _Republic's_ chef. Though she was still remarkably understaffed considering they were only the second warp-5 class ship in Starfleet.

A few moments later she was startled more awake by a loud thud from the science station to her left, followed closely by an 'ow', and then a giggle from her helmsman. "I see you're acquainting yourself with the science station." Hernandez commented drily, looking up as she took another sip of coffee.

A pale faced, blonde head appeared from underneath the console, followed by a hand rubbing the spot that Hernandez assumed was where she'd hit her head. "Yes, Cap'n." Lieutenant-Commander Penelope Sutton replied - the abbreviated rank almost sounding weird in her English accent - clearly chagrined. Since boarding the ship Sutton had been almost too well behaved and almost meek, then again meeting your new commanding officer whilst completely and utterly inebriated the night before deployment probably had that effect on most people. But despite that her new science officer had reported for duty on time, adorned with her dark blonde hair in slightly lopsided French pig-tails, and got stuck straight in with her work. No complaints that the engineers hadn't had time to finish their work on her instruments or station, and had simply got to it and instead started on the work herself. If she was hungover and suffering from lack of sleep, she wasn't showing it.

Meanwhile Commander Holly Maraschino was still giggling, "You're going to have a dent the same shape as your desk by the end of the day." Sutton simply scrunched her nose up at the darker skinned woman, whose green eyes seemed to light up even further with amusement, before the scientist disappeared back beneath the desk. Clearly still amused as she turned back to calibrating the helm for their anticipated launch, her bun still immaculate despite the way her body was still trembling from her giggles. Originally Hernandez had planned to have someone she was familiar with as her first officer, but after reading Maraschino's file, and the recommendations for both her helmsmanship and command skills, had decided to nominate her as her second in command.

Her third in command - which was usually done by unofficial understanding within a crew - was an appointment she was much less sure about. Her friend Captain Archer had made many recommendations to her about her staff, including suggesting she look at MACO personnel for her tactical officer, and she had considered all of them, but her third in command had been the one she had found herself unable to make a clear decision on whether or not to follow or ignore the advise.

The dark haired man who had sat seemingly stoically through the little incident on her right at tactical had been her take on Archer's MACO recommendation. Lieutenant Jake Corby had trained and served with MACO before transferring to Starfleet, so he had the benefit of their tactical and military training, but some time away from it before joining them, Hernandez considered that a real find, making Archer's advise easy to follow. The military training showed, both physically and mentally, even in the few hours since arriving on the ship he had already shown himself to be efficient and disciplined. Her initial impression of him was similar to that of Major Hayes during _Enterprise's_ debriefing after their return from stopping the Delphic Expanse and making peace with the Xindi, though she never actually met the man in person.

Luckily Sutton managed to finish her work under her station without doing any more damage to herself - or the console -, and was busy powering up and tuning in all her feeds. Though she pointed out that would only be half the work, as calibrating the thing would be just as tricky.

"Don't worry, it's only for all our scientific analysis, nothing important." Maraschino joked.

"Exactly, that's why it requires so much more calibrating than, say, helm..." Sutton retorted in kind, that flare resuming after her mollified behaviour all morning. Maraschino chuckled to herself as both women returned to their work.

And in Sutton's case that turned out to be grabbing the scanner she'd perched atop her station which she'd been using for mechanical diagnostics, then muttering something about misaligned power couplings proceeded to palm-heel the corner of the screen to manually realign them. During which the lift doors opened to reveal the newest member of the standard bridge crew. "Is that official Starfleet technique?" The man asked.

Everyone looked up to see a Vulcan stepping out of the lift and onto the bridge. "If it works..." Sutton replied, as Hernandez stood to greet her communications officer, and third in command.

"Captain Erika Hernandez." She greeted, offering her hand.

"Subaltern Tajock." The man replied, he was tall at just over six foot, but that was normal for a Vulcan male. With angular features and neat dark hair, though Hernandez wasn't sure if she was surprised by his grey eyes, she found herself assuming they would have been brown, but she wasn't sure why she would assume that. "Communications Officer." He added, shaking the hand offered.

"Subaltern?" Corby asked.

"High Command's Lieutenant Commander." Sutton explained.

"Perhaps closer to Lieutenant, but essentially." Tajock corrected, and Sutton threw her hands up in apology, though no one bothered to point out that that gesture probably didn't translate to Vulcans. "It loses something in translation." He admitted.

"I trust you've been shown to your quarters?" Hernandez checked, and Tajock nodded. "If there's anything amiss, please feel free to put in a requisition." She added, before leading him to the communications station just down from Sutton's science console as she introduced everyone on the bridge, explaining that they likely had a few days before they would be ready to leave dry dock. "So I'll leave you to acquaint yourself with the station, although unfortunately engineering haven't finished all of the work, as they are currently understaffed and focusing on the engine problems."

"No doubt hindered by the bridge officers vandalising their equipment." Tajock added, taking his seat.

"It doesn't affect their workload, until the engines are fixed I'm only going to make work for myself if I break it." Sutton retorted.

Hernandez made a mental note to keep an eye on those two for a while.

Considering the amount of staff on the _Columbia_ they were making good progress on the remaining engineering work, based on the incoming reports Hernandez was receiving at any rate. She was also highly encouraged when Tajock reported that Commander Tucker had arrived on board, that would give the engineering team a boost. Though when he failed to report she did make a trip down to engineering to find him.

"Is it a good idea to break regulations the moment you step on the ship?" Corby wondered aloud.

"Some people prefer to get straight to work." Maraschino replied. "Besides, it's only transfers that regs state have to report to the captain on arrival, kind of easy to forget if you don't think about it too hard."

"But the regulations do state that." Tajock weighed in. "And it is the duty of officers to know them."

"And he's human, only Vulcans seem to expect perfection of us, and then they'll state that we can't achieve it." Sutton added. "Which doesn't make sense if you think about-"

"He was also in a senior position of command on his last assignment." Tajock interrupted, deciding it was probably best not to let the young scientist get distracted.

"That hardly precludes him from his own humanity, Tarquin." Sutton replied.

"Tajock." He corrected.

Maraschino decided that this had gone on long enough, and had gone a long way from the light-hearted discussion it might have started as. "It's also an unusual case, as everyone here is new and this mission isn't under-way which is what the rule was originally designed to cover. It is up to the Captain to decide how to deal with, and therefore I believe that this particular discussion is closed." She added firmly, quite a transition from the joking, light hearted woman from earlier, into a stern commanding officer, receiving three 'yes, ma'ams' and a mini salute from Sutton that almost made her have to bite her lip to stop herself from grinning.

By the time Hernandez returned the bridge had settled down into relative quiet, with the exception of Maraschino trying to quiz Tajock about Vulcan cuisine, to limited degrees of success. Though as Hernandez had invited both of them to her cabin for dinner, they assumed that Maraschino's curiosity would be satisfied then.

Though by the time they headed off the bridge at the end of their shifts, Sutton and Corby had a wager on whether or not Maraschino would be able to learn Tajock's favourite meal. And all considered themselves lucky that as they weren't engineers they didn't have to pull double or more shifts, for now.

Whilst the three command officers headed to the captain's mess, Corby met up with a couple of people he'd previously served with and become friends with for some sparring practise in one of the gyms before dinner, whilst Sutton headed to the mess armed with a data-pad, finding herself an empty table and set down both plate and data-pad next to each other so she could read and eat simultaneously, as she used her free hand to shake out her French plaits - the bobbles now around each wrist - before using it to scroll through the notes on she'd been making on what still needed doing before launch.

She was halfway through her mash potatoes - or at least she was assuming it was potato - when a voice startled her attention away from the data-pad "Is this seat taken?"

"No." She replied, indicating for him to sit, and just as he did she worked out who he was, after all, how many people were both commanders and hailed from the _Enterprise_?

"Commander Trip Tucker." He stated, offering a hand.

"Lieutenant P- Commander Penny Sutton." She corrected herself halfway through, offering the hand. He clearly noticed. "New rank." She explained, with a wry smile. "Not quite used to it yet."

He chuckled as he set to tucking into his own meal. "Science station?" He asked, indicating the data-pad, recognising the schematics, even upside down.

"Yeah." Sutton confirmed. "Rotated between the night shift and regular lab work on the _Intrepid_."

"Must have some stories to tell then."

"Nothing as exciting as the _Enterprise_ , I'm sure." Sutton retorted, causing Tucker to grin. "After only returning so soon, there's a lot of people interested in the full story of how the Xindi were stopped, but currently I think people are just relieved the threat is gone."

"I consider myself warned." Tucker assured her, and it was her turn to chuckle. "So, is there anything I need to be warned of about our new captain?"

Sutton considered the question. "I think you're asking the wrong person." She decided. "But I'd advise against meeting her rat-arsed drunk." To say Tucker was intrigued was an understatement, and Sutton ended up explaining exactly how the night out she'd been having with her friends to celebrate her last day on Earth had resulted in her meeting her new CO.

As it transpired Maraschino had been able to extract Tajock's favourite meal from him, resulting in Sutton being able to extract ten credits out of Corby, though out of Hernandez's view, neither of them were that kind of stupid. Though Sutton added there was always time.

By lunch time their physician had arrived on board, prompting Hernandez to leave her bridge crew to their own devices, and reiterating that now the doctor was aboard, that over the next week or so the entire crew would be undergoing a physical. "Everyone's favourite part of a new assignment." Maraschino muttered as she set to organising the appointments with the medical staff, hoping to minimise any disruption to already stretched departments.

Hernandez arrived in the captain's mess to find her new physician already waiting for her, having been shown to the mess by her yeoman. "Doctor Lawson, welcome aboard." She stated, offering her hand.

"Thank you, Captain." He replied, a warm smile undermining the slightly stern neat hair and almost tired features. A hazard of being a doctor and constantly being on alert and responsible for lives. Hernandez couldn't help but wonder about the contrast in his light brown hair to his Japanese features. "I must admit I haven't been called to lunch with the captain immediately on boarding before, should I be worried?"

Hernandez chuckled as they each took a seat. "Not at all, I'm just trying to get a handle on my new crew. It's been a while since I've been with an entirely unfamiliar command crew." Lawson nodded, almost guardedly, calculating whether or not he talk first or let her steer the conversation, and decided on the latter.

It was a reaction Hernandez picked up on. "I see that you're not one for small talk before business." She observed.

"I've often found it pointless."

"Is that why a doctor of such reputation and experience is still only a lieutenant?" Hernandez questioned. "I've seen your service record, I would have expected anyone with that many recommendations and experience to be at least a commander by now."

Lawson was about to reply but the yeoman came in with their food, and the conversation came to an abrupt pause as they allowed the man to finish his job and leave before resuming, but at least it gave Lawson a chance to consider his reply. "I have... issues with orders." He stated.

"You mean you ignore them?"

"Only when they interfere with my job."

"Isn't it your job to obey orders?"

"It is my job to save lives, where I can. It is not my job to care what kind of person I am saving, not my job to judge whether or not someone is worth saving, or indeed over someone else. I simply try and minimise death." Lawson explained.

"And you have been given orders to let people die?"

"Not directly, but it always comes down to judgement of worth somewhere." Lawson replied. "Civilians and soldiers, officers and enlisted, commanders and ensigns, even a prisoner once. I disagree, and I get informed I'm wrong."

Hernandez nodded as she let that sink in. "I see." She decided, for now. "Well, then, shall we talk about how to save people instead?"

Lawson smiled. "That is why I'm here." And without further prompting launched into a series of recommendations based on his previous assignments about how to maximise efficiency of his almost skeleton medical staff and supplies. Even asking when it would be possible to talk to the engineering team about some possible improvements for life support systems that could hopefully decrease maintenance time. Instantly shaking off the guarded manner about discussing his disagreement with command, and transferring to perfectly agreeable, friendly conversation.

Considering that no one seemed to have much faith in the _Columbia_ being ready by their end of week deadline, Hernandez couldn't fault her crew for their effort and resilience. The last few days seeing everyone pulling more than what would normally be considered their fair share, with minimal complaints - the few transfer requests from engineering showed a few tensions, but nothing that was serious enough to lower the staffing levels. "Come in." Hernandez called as she looked up from the monitor in her ready room.

"Latest status reports, Commander Tucker seems to have delivered, he's confident we'll be good to initiate warp tests tomorrow." Maraschino reported, handing Hernandez a data-pad

Hernandez quickly scanned the summary, impressive but from what she knew of the commander's work it would appear to be expected from him. "Anything else I should be aware of, Maraschino?"

"There's a pool running on whether or not Tajock or Sutton will snap at the other first, but I don't believe it's anything more serious than banter. They both seem to take some sort of pleasure in frustrating the other, though how that works for a Vulcan I'm not sure." Maraschino explained with a shrug. "I'll put a stop to it if it starts edging towards serious, ma'am."

"I see I don't need to remind you to speak freely." Hernandez observed.

Maraschino seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I assumed as your first officer you would want me to speak my mind, but if you'd prefer I can withhold comment until you ask for an opinion."

It was the first time that Hernandez had seen Maraschino seem unsure of herself, whilst new to the role of first officer the woman had never given off any impression other than confidence. In fact, the times Hernandez had been able to observe, Maraschino's impish air had given her the opportunity to bond with the crew because it made her seem less of the authority figure she was. Maraschino seemed able to balance it with a respect that meant when she flipped the switch into her command role she was given the utmost respect and trust about her orders. Hernandez had organised to have a meal with all of her officers before their schedules departure in a bid to get to know them, get a feel for their likely characteristics, but she was always their captain, and therefore it would always take her longer to gain the friendship type of trust that Maraschino could build up quicker, and it was a part of the role that Maraschino took to naturally.

"I'd prefer you to speak your mind." Hernandez assured her.

"My old CO would tell you that you'll regret saying that." Maraschino chuckled, and Hernandez grinned.

For once the mess hall was oddly quiet, most people finally taking the opportunity to catch up on some sleep now that they felt prepared for their departure from dock the following morning. Corby was one of the last ones in, even by his standards, finding only Lawson there, enjoying a brew whilst reading. Corby went to examine the left-overs on offer, found himself a suitable post-exercise meal before pausing next to the doctor's table. "Fancy some company, doc?" He asked curtly.

Lawson looked up, and indicated to one of the seats, which Corby took as he set his dinner down. "Much longer and I doubt there'd be any food left out, Lieutenant."

Corby half grinned through a mouthful of pasta. "Usually late, doc, I like to work out before I eat."

"And your blood sugar?"

"Sports drink, dunno what's in it, keeps me going though." Corby admitted. Lawson almost managed to hide his wry smile, though decided not to try and explain that the cocktail of sugars perhaps wasn't the best mix, but if it worked for the lieutenant, and the man was healthy, who was he to start giving exercise advice. "Sorry, Lieutenant Corby." He added, realising he'd never introduced himself to the man.

"Doctor Lawson, which I think you knew." Lawson replied in kind.

"Ship's surgeon tends to make you a person people know." Corby agreed.

"Well hopefully I won't need to perform any surgery any time soon." Lawson stated, with a wry smile. After a conversation with Sutton the previous day, he was a little concerned, apparently the woman had a knack for fire. "Or at least not until I've completed my round of physicals, of which you are due in the morning, hopefully you won't be feeling too stiff."

Corby chuckled. "It'll take more than a little light boxing to make me sore, doc."

Lawson smiled. "Then I'm sure we can find a more strenuous routine for you, after all, who knows what we'll find out here?" He teased with a blank, yet knowing smile. Corby paused almost mid mouthful, his fork halfway between his plate and mouth. "Good night, lieutenant." Lawson added, standing up to find his quarters.

The following morning Hernandez surveyed her bridge as they made their final preparations, Corby, Sutton and Tajock were down in sickbay for their physicals, Sutton due back first and Corby having only just left. Maraschino was in her usual duty station, and three enlisted crewmen were manning communications, tactical and science, but none were likely to involve anything too strenuous whilst Maraschino piloted them out of dock.

"Hail the dock master." Hernandez instructed, and Tajock opened the channel, signalling to Hernandez when the channel was open. "This is Captain Hernandez, request permission to depart."

"You're cleared for departure. Smooth sailing, _Columbia_." The dock master confirmed.

"Thank you." Hernandez replied, before opening an internal channel. "Bridge to engineering, are we ready, Mr Tucker?"

"Just a few more seconds." Tucker replied, luckily signing off before adding 'I hope' under his breath

Those few seconds felt a lot longer on the bridge as Hernandez stood by her chair waiting for his reply, even Maraschino seemed to be holding her breath.

"Engineering to bridge, we're ready whenever you are, Captain."

"Time to weigh anchor." Hernandez decided, a wry smile on her features. "Commander, aft thrusters at one half until we clear space dock." She instructed, turning to her chair. "Then take us to warp."

They'd just made the edge of the solar system when Sutton reappeared on the bridge, and relieved the young crewman, saying nothing of the smile Hernandez was trying to hide about the _Columbia_ finally being at warp, but when she took her seat and Maraschino caught her eye she did give a thumbs up to the commander, who grinned before turning back to her navigations.

Hernandez was in the middle of asking for a routine report on their systems when Tajock returned to relieve the crewman at his station, as Maraschino and Sutton relayed through all their statistics and statuses. All in all everything was running smoothly, the engines were optimum but some of the peripheral systems needed some additional fine tuning, but nothing they couldn't cope with until their engineers had time.

Hernandez was about to initiate some more rigorous warp tests with Maraschino and Tucker as Corby returned to the bridge, but Tajock interrupted her plans. "Incoming communication from the _Enterprise_."

That got everyone's attention. "On screen." Hernandez ordered, retaking her seat as the viewing screen changed to that of the _Enterprise_ bridge. "Captain, congratulating us on finally leaving port?" Hernandez joked.

Captain Archer gave her only a strained smile in response. "Unfortunately we have more pressing matters. Will it be possible to talk to Trip?"

Hernandez indicated to Tajock to get Tucker up there. "On his way." She confirmed. "But what's going on?"

"I think that might be easier to only explain once."

"Understood." Hernandez replied, though it was clear that she was as confused as the rest of them.

"Cap'n, the _Enterprise_ is currently over warp 5." Sutton added, she had been in the middle of testing her long range sensors, and the _Enterprise_ was at the edge of her range, since they'd rung them, she figured she might as well use them as a test.

Hernandez turned back from her science officer and to her friend on the screen. "Maraschino, redirect course to assist." She could read Archer well enough to know it was serious, especially if he was after Tucker's knowledge, this wasn't going to be routine.

Tucker didn't leave them waiting long, and arrived on the bridge with a grin on his face. "Calling to congratulate-" He stopped abruptly when he saw the look on his friend's face. "What's going on?"

"The _Enterprise_ has been compromised by a Klingon sub-routine, the reactor pressure is building so that if we drop below warp five we'll explode." Archer explained. "T'Pol is currently working on removing it, but we'd really rather have some other options. We're currently at warp 5.2 just to keep ourselves from blowing apart."

"At that speed you'll fly yourself apart just as quickly." Tucker objected, though it was clear from the look he received that that fact was already commonly known. "Can you send us any information on the sub-routines?" He was about to head over to the spare console next to tactical before realising that they hadn't connected that up.

Archer turned over his shoulder, and they saw him nod to someone as they started transmitting the information. "It's coming through now."

"Got it." Sutton confirmed, putting the information up on the screens behind her.

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on forever as everyone looked at the information trying to glean anything useful, hoping that someone else had a brainwave. "I think I can reset them." Tucker decided. "But you'll have to get me on board the _Enterprise_."

"How?" Archer added.

"Reed has experience of transfers between vessels at warp, and we'll need to merge the warp fields." Tucker explained, taking a breath. "It's not... appealing, but it's the only way we've got."

A very brief look flashed over Archer's face, but before most had a chance to register it it was gone again. "I'll talk to Reed." He confirmed.

"We'll be with you in just under half an hour." Hernandez confirmed, and Archer nodded as the channel was cut. "Sutton, coordinate with their science officer, we'll need precision if we're going to pull this off." She added, and Sutton nodded. "Mr Tucker, I hope you have a plan?"

"Yes, ma'am." He confirmed, before going into detail about how Malcolm Reed had explained to him about transferring personnel and equipment manually at warp 1 with little more than a zip wire between two ships cargo bays and environmental suits. After many simulations they had managed to pull it off by matching the ships move for move, speed for speed. No one on the bridge was quite sure if they believed him, but Hernandez told him to go and prepare anyway.

"So, not even an hour in and we're breaking science?" Sutton asked all too innocently, she added, having established an interface with the _Enterprise_ , and being rather grateful that she had never felt the need to exclude warp theory from her studies. For the most part T'Pol did the calculations, and she used the additional computer power to simulate and error check.

Maraschino however was more concerned about how much they could push the engines this soon. "I don't particularly want to be remembered as the pilot that destroyed her ship within an hour." She quipped.

"Technically it would be an hour and twelve minutes." Sutton piped up.

"Well that makes me feel better." Maraschino muttered.

Despite how long it felt - though Tajock assured them that time was passing normally - they were soon within reach of the _Enterprise_ , which then altered her course so that they could pull up behind, which was the part that worried Maraschino the most, as it meant pushing their engines beyond what was considered possible let alone safe, even if it was only briefly. "Commander Tucker, are you ready for this?" Hernandez asked as she opened the comm line.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He confirmed.

"Open a channel." Hernandez ordered. " _Columbia_ to _Enterprise_."

"This is Archer." Came the reply, audio only.

"We're matching speed and trajectory as requested."

"Stand by _Columbia_." Archer confirmed.

The signal came from Reed for Maraschino to start her rotation, coordinating with both him and Travis Mayweather to minimise any potential mistakes or variance.

"All hands, this is the captain, brace for warp field contact." Hernandez warned, only she heard the breath that Maraschino let out.

"Fifty metres, stable." Maraschino confirmed after a brief bump.

" _Columbia_ , deploying the tether." Reed came in, Sutton was listening to Tucker and Reed's conversations in the event that something went wrong, as she was in the best place to coordinate the two men they had on standby in EV suits. So far so good, though she was staying quiet to keep Maraschino's nerves in check, though considering no one had ever done this before, her nerves were holding incredibly well.

"Tucker to Captain Hernandez."

"Go ahead."

"I'm heading out."

"Quick as you can, Commander." Hernandez encouraged, before taking to pacing behind Maraschino.

About halfway through Tucker came back in. "Never thought I'd see the stars like this." He sounded completely awed.

"Eyes on the cable, Commander, I need you back here in one piece." Hernandez reiterated, though it had stopped her pacing.

Before she retook her seat as everyone braced themselves as the ship shook. "Warp field fluctuation." Sutton explained.

"It's affecting their positioning, trying to compensate." Maraschino cut in. "Though I can't do much without risking destroying both our ships."

Tajock was still relaying Reed and Tucker's comms through Sutton to enable her to coordinate. "The tether is at maximum." The ship rocked again.

"Fifty nine metres." Maraschino added.

"Is he aboard?" Hernandez asked.

Sutton was halfway through repeating the question when the tether buckled. "He better be." She answered instead. "Tether buckled, closing cargo bay doors and initiating re-pressurisation." A few moments later she was able to confirm that Reed had got him, and a collective sigh of relief was almost breathed.

Maraschino was reporting a few more metres separation when the _Enterprise_ opened another channel. "Captain, how much of the plan did Trip tell you?"

"We're flying in the dark at this point onwards." Hernandez explained.

"He plans on doing a hard restart to reset the sub-routines, and to give him enough time to do it, we need the _Columbia_ to sustain the _Enterprise_ in her warp-field" Hernandez couldn't see Sutton from where she was sat, but her peripheral vision caught the way her science officer's head snapped up at that. Maraschino turned to share a look with Corby, who both looked completely astounded that something would be suggested.

"We can only sustain that for a couple of minutes." Hernandez stated.

"I know, but he seems to think he can do it." Archer agreed.

"Bridge to engineering." Hernandez opened a channel. "Divert all power into maintaining and extending our warp field, whatever you have to." She paused. "Maraschino."

"Aye, ma'am." Maraschino complied, the order didn't need to be explained.

" _Columbia_ to _Enterprise_." Hernandez was pacing again.

"Go ahead."

"I'm ramming everything I've got into my warp field." Hernandez explained. "Do me a favour, Jonathan, make this quick." She requested.

There was another small shudder as their warp field managed to extend to cover the _Enterprise_. "Warp fields merged." Sutton reported.

"Course holding and stable." Maraschino agreed, now that Tucker wasn't on a wire between them their exact positions weren't as important, but she still had a ridiculously small window of tolerance or risk losing the entire field. But Maraschino and Sutton had already managed to get into a routine of coordination.

" _Columbia_ to _Enterprise_." Hernandez called, glancing at Maraschino's monitor. "You've got about forty seconds."

"Understood." Archer confirmed.

Hernandez was already starting to worry when Sutton started pressing buttons and processing information as fast as she currently was doing, possibly not helped by Maraschino matching her. "Corby, reroute remaining tactical power." Sutton added, and the Lieutenant nodded without a second thought.

" _Enterprise_ , we're losing the field." Hernandez warned, her eye on Maraschino's monitor.

Despite what Sutton and the lieutenant that was covering Tucker's duties were able to pull from the rest of the _Columbia's_ systems it wasn't enough, and Maraschino started counting down to when the field would collapse and she'd have to pull away for their safety, matched by Mayweather on the _Enterprise_.

There was more rocking as the warp fields separated and Maraschino altered their course to protect the _Columbia_ , coming about to rejoin the _Enterprise's_ course after they broke. " _Enterprise_ has warp power." Sutton confirmed moments later, a small grin gracing her features as they realised it had actually worked. Still not quite believing it.

" _Enterprise_ to _Columbia_." Archer paused. Maraschino almost laughed, it seemed that they weren't the only ones who didn't quite believe it. "Thanks for the lift."

"You're not getting away with my chief engineer that easily." Hernandez retorted.

"Any plans for the next few days?" Archer asked.

"What've you got in mind?"

Archer explained how the Klingons had taken Phlox, though they currently had no idea where he was or why they had taken him. But that they had managed to capture one of the men who had tried to sabotage the _Enterprise_ by hacking the subroutines. No one needed to say anything, but they all agreed that any plan they managed to come up with would work better with two ships and twice the firepower.

Archer seemed to think he had a few leads to go on for now, so that left the _Columbia_ with little to do other than to try and fix any outstanding issues they'd left space dock with. Commander Tucker briefly returned to check on their plans and progress before returning to the _Enterprise_ to assist Commander Kelby over there, which made sense considering they had bigger problems to clean up after.

Shortly after many of Hernandez's senior bridge officers returned from their lunch breaks, Archer confirmed that they had a plan. Though it was by no means certain, and it involved some dubious Section 31 information, but it was all they had. Hernandez confirmed that they'd help, regardless. The coordinates for the Qu'Vat colony were forwarded on, and Maraschino confirmed their ETA at approximately six hours, and corrected her course to mirror _Enterprise_ at a safe distance on Lieutenant Reed's suggestion.

Hernandez considered her options. "Everyone, take five hours, I want you rested and to return about an hour out of the colony." She decided, Sutton and Tajock shared a look, and Corby looked set to argue, as did Maraschino, but Hernandez couldn't see her face. "No arguments. We shouldn't encounter any problems en route, and if we do, you can return." Her tone was firm, there was to be no argument.

By coincidence they all ended up in the mess hall. Sutton had chosen to read whilst helping herself to any leftovers, Tajock to indulge in a favoured beverage before intending to spent some time in contemplation and meditation and Maraschino to socialise before a power nap, she found it easier to wind down first. Corby arrived shortly after, apparently kicked out of the gym because he was under orders to rest not tire himself out.

Maraschino and Sutton shared a look as he started pacing near their table. No one else was in the mess other than chef and Tajock, who was one table over, clearly preferring to read rather than socialise. "We should be on the bridge, we're barely a few hours into our regular shifts." He was clearly agitated.

"Yes, but regular shifts aren't anticipating a firefight." Maraschino corrected, as Sutton swallowed the mouthful of sandwich. "There's no point in not having us as rested as possible."

"Then why isn't she off-duty too?"

"Because not only is she our commanding officer, and it being her ship her prerogative, she has her ready room to use to de-stress as she wishes." Sutton supplied.

"And why would she expect us to succumb to stress easier than-"

"Lieutenant!" Maraschino interrupted, her tone deadly yet relatively quiet, but considering the quiet of the mess hall it seemed to resonate louder than it was. Even Tajock looked up, Sutton would have said in mild surprise, but knew better than to make jokes at that moment. "You are bordering on insubordination."

"How does she expect to judge our performances when she doesn't allow us to do our jobs?"

"Because she's not doing this to judge our performance, she's doing this to ensure the safety of her ship." Sutton cut in. "We're anticipating a firefight, we don't know how long it'll go on, we don't know how badly it'll go. She wants those who will be most involved to be as rested as possible so that we're all capable of making the best decisions possible at the time. Yeah, it sucks, I'd rather be doing my job too, but it makes sense."

Corby finished pacing and almost fell into a chair at their table. "So you're all against me?"

Maraschino almost threw him a scolding look. "It's not about being against you." She corrected, rather more gently than the slap down she's rather give him right now. "It's about doing what's best for us all." She paused. "Now chill out before I send you to doctor Lawson for a sedative, ensuring you won't be on the bridge when we need you."

"Perhaps you would benefit from some instructions in meditation." Tajock added after a silence fell over them.

Sutton nearly chocked on her last mouthful of sandwich as she tried not to laugh, Maraschino managed to keep her face a mask of neutrality, not helped by Sutton's predicament. Corby shot the Vulcan a dirty look. "I happen to find emotions have benefits."

"Which often bring about unintended hindrances." Tajock added, not looking up from his data-pad

"He has a point." Sutton agreed. "But could the Vulcans handle it if it turned out humans were better at them when it came to logic and emotional suppression if we tried?"

That earnt a laugh from Corby, which started to take the edge off the concern Maraschino was feeling. "I believe that would be an improvement, if only slight." Tajock refuted.

"I don't know whether or not to be insulted." Corby added.

Sutton shrugged. "At least we know that they haven't written us completely off yet, apparently we aren't beyond the ability to improve." She paused. "Even if it's only because of our flavoured teas."

Maraschino chuckled. "Do I need to be worried about you two?"

Sutton gave a subtle shake of her head, whilst Tajock seemed unperturbed. "Earth has different flavours and herbs to Vulcan, purely scientifically it makes sense to try new ones that are available."

"I'll take that as a 'no'." Maraschino decided as she stood up. "Now, please, Corby, don't start any more dissent." She almost pleaded.

"Yes, ma'am." Corby agreed, though a little reluctantly.

There were no more arguments as the officers headed to their downtime routines, before all arriving relatively promptly - or as early as he could get away with in Corby's case - back on the bridge about an hour before the _Enterprise's_ expected arrival.

Maraschino was shadowing the _Enterprise_ , dropping into orbit far enough behind for only one of them to be likely to be spotted at any one time. Tajock maintaining radio silence to prevent them from being linked too easily, having had to cut Corby & Reeds tactical discussion short as they arrived at the planet. Corby's sensors were trained on the _Enterprise_ , whilst Sutton was monitoring what she could of Archer's progress trying to retrieve Phlox whilst also keeping an eye on the potential tactical situation. As Maraschino said, good job most scientists could multi-task. Hernandez looked set to start pacing behind Maraschino again, just about restraining her impatience.

"Three Klingon ships dropping out of warp." Corby reported.

"They're jamming signals." Tajock reported.

"They're firing on the colony." Sutton reported. "And now they're firing on the _Enterprise_." She added as she witnessed the _Enterprise_ get in the Klingon's way and shooting at them.

Corby quickly aligned his phasers to target the tailing most of two as they came up behind them.

" _Columbia_ to _Enterprise_ , looks like you could use a hand." Hernandez teased, before looking a little less pleased that her ship was being fired on, and that she was getting no reply. "Let's keep those ships off her tail." She decided.

Corby nodded, targeting the Klingon's engines, whilst Maraschino manoeuvred the _Columbia_ to minimise damage and to maximise Corby's efforts, and effectively got the Klingons attention, taking some of the strain off the _Enterprise_. For the time being at any rate.

A particularly bad hit had them worried as they all grabbed for support and one of the wall panels started sparking, though Sutton quickly ascertained that it was only superficial, and Hernandez lightly cajoled Maraschino about not ruining her ship. Maraschino paused for a second, and then her thought concluded told them all to hold on.

"One of the ships is losing power." Corby reported. "Their port nasal is vulnerable."

"Then fire at will." Hernandez confirmed.

Corby almost grinned at the prospect, targeting phasers at that one, rendering that ship immobile before going after a second. Though there were still left two determined to attack the colony, or them. Hoshi was able to break through the jamming with some success, and once done so Tajock was able to work with her to keep the channel somewhat open.

" _Enterprise_ moving between the other ship and the colony." Sutton reported.

"That's not a standard tactic." Maraschino added, busily correcting and readjusting her course as the Klingons attempted to outmanoeuvre her and fire on their critical systems. They hadn't appeared to take kindly to them disabling their sister ship.

"They've probably lost weapons." Corby suggested. "Last ditch attempt when nothing else will work."

"I don't intend to be in that situation, Lieutenant." Hernandez ordered. "Disable that cruiser."

The ship rocked again as Maraschino pulled what most would consider an impossible swerve to avoid a hit to their flank, and Hernandez briefly had time to marvel that Sutton had wedged herself in place with her feet against the back railing of her station as she was the only one who didn't have to grab onto anything. Though they were rather more concerned moments later when the tactical station sparked and a section of the monitors behind Corby went dark. As he was insisting he was fine, and turned to the down sections Maraschino recorded a direct hit to their ventral, Sutton was confirming which systems were down.

"Message incoming from _Enterprise_." Tajock added.

"Captain Hernandez, please direct your weapons at the battle cruiser." T'Pol requested

"I wish I could help, we just lost our weapons." Hernandez explained, clearly agitated. "Options?" She asked.

"Engineering crews are dispatched, but most are on call to keep the engines working." Corby reported. "We can keep them occupied, but with no weapons we can't get their attention." He paused. "Without ramming them."

"We're not-"

"We still have the grapple." Sutton cut in, almost instantly regretting interrupting her captain as Hernandez turned to her, and the science officer almost externally cringed.

Corby, however, looked on board with the idea. "Can you phase it through their shields?"

"I can certainly try." Sutton agreed, she had to admit, she honestly had no idea, and Corby probably knew that. But until the engineers were able to restore any of their phaser or torpedo capacity, it was all they had.

Sutton was partway through a hack for the grapple as Maraschino turned to start her pass between the _Enterprise_ and the Klingon ships still firing at the colony, to take some of the heat off their sister ship when Tajock received a communication. "Transmission from the surface to the Klingons." He cut in. "Doctor Phlox has the cure, and has infected the Klingon cruiser, if they don't desist then they'll never be able to cure themselves." He paused as he finished relaying the message.

Maraschino slowed her speed as they waited for the response, their sensors indicating that the Klingons had stopped firing, for the moment. The delay was long enough for Hernandez to step towards Tajock's comm station.

"The Klingons have agreed to cease fire." He confirmed.

Maraschino seemed like she could finally breathe again, as Sutton almost started laughing in relief, both women finally relaxing at their stations and neither having realised they were sat so tensely until then. Corby broke a small smile before turning to try and coordinate a response to their still broken weapon systems. Hernandez nodded to Tajock, a smile reaching her eyes but not her trained pokerface, before returning to her seat, opening a comm channel.

" _Columbia_ to _Enterprise_ , this is Captain Hernandez, can we be of any assistance?"

As it transpired the _Enterprise's_ more experienced crew had already got a handle on most of their damage, so they didn't require any further personnel despite receiving more damage having put themselves in the direct line of fire.

Considering the staff that the _Columbia_ was lacking they did an admiral job of repairing the ship by the time they had docked with the _Enterprise_ \- Tucker had insisted on seeing the damage for himself - before speaking with Hernandez and the two of them went to visit the _Enterprise_ , heading for the sick bay, T'Pol not far behind them.

"How are you feeling?" T'Pol asked.

"Not too bad, apart from some strange cravings. A plateful of live gagh sounds pretty good right now."

"The cravings should disappear in a day or so, along with your, uh, ridges." Phlox explained.

"Nah, I'd keep them if I were you, Cap'n, it makes you look intimidating." Tucker decided, though Archer clearly didn't understand why that was a reason.

"I should get back on the road." Hernandez stated.

"One of us needs to get some exploring done." Archer agreed. "Thanks for your help."

"I don't know how you survived all these years without me." Hernandez retorted with a grin, earning a disapproving look, before she left sickbay to return to the _Columbia_.

Meanwhile on the _Columbia_ the day crew had mostly signed off their shifts for the day, though some were still finishing up their particular repair tasks. Maraschino and Sutton had already made themselves at home in the mess with a pair of meals and a bottle of cachaça Maraschino had smuggled aboard. Both laughing near hysterically into their meals as Maraschino regaled Sutton with a story about her niece and dog. "No..." Sutton eventually managed between laughter, clearly not believing the story.

Maraschino nodded, a little haphazardly gesturing as she did due to the drink. "Here." She added, grabbing her personal data-pad, loading a picture of the end result, holding it out.

Sutton raised her hands in defeat. "I stand corrected." She paused. "She's a gorgeous little thing, isn't she?"

"Who is?" Another voice asked, approaching their table, and the girls looked up to see doctor Lawson with his own dinner. "Mind if I join you?"

Maraschino indicated for him to take a seat. "Her niece." Sutton explained, as Maraschino turned the screen to him.

"Indeed." Lawson agreed. "She looks about the same age as my daughter." Maraschino took her pad back as she made to pour Lawson a drink. "I see you ladies are in for a classy evening." He added, eyeing the drink warily, in it's plastic cup.

"We're off duty." Sutton added innocently. "Besides, don't doctors prescribe alcohol?"

"Not for a century or two." Lawson retorted.

"Shame." The scientist decided nonchalantly.

Lawson chuckled as he briefly sniffed at the drink. "Well, here's to hoping you don't find us anything more exciting than today." He toasted, both women joined in.

"I don't know..." Maraschino added after knocking back the remains of her drink. "I think the excitement has only just begun."

"I'll remind you of that when you literally fly us apart." Sutton corrected, managing to hold an innocent look just long enough for Maraschino to glare at her, before Lawson started laughing first, and they soon cracked and joined him.

* * *

Cinn: Yay, I actually managed to finish something in a reasonable time frame. Now I just have to plan out another few chapters and pretend I know what I'm doing. I'll appreciate reviews/critiques, though please try not to be offensive. I also have no beta, so whilst I have reread this a few times & spell checked, I don't claim to be perfect, and I apologise for any glaring errors.

For any complaints about liberties I've taken with fleshing out the crew;

It took me some time to find info on the Columbia's crew beyond the still showing Hernandez, her tactical officer, science officer & helmsman with no context (crew from Allfiction when leaving port). By the time I did find more I'd already gone a fair way in defining characters & fleshing them out. As neither tactical nor science officers in Affliction have ranks they're enlisted and so can be judged not the full duty officers. However the helms woman is a lieutenant, and I doubt any helmsman would pass up the chance to pilot their ship out of dock, and as I based Maraschino on that picture (& I actually like the idea of someone who chose to stay at helm through promotions) I'm simply going to promote her. (Forgive me canon pedants) Especially as by Divergence she seems to have an almost entirely different bridge crew considering only half an hour has passed.


	2. Getting Their Bearings

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill.

Cinn: Well my original intention was to have given myself enough of a buffer with the first two chapters to be able to upload regularly, then life got in the way. So it's probably not going to be as regular as I'd hoped. Ah well.

Thank you to everyone who read this, and especially those who reviewed.

* * *

Captain Hernandez had just signed off to make the crew transfers permanent when her ready room door chimed. "Enter." She called out, taking another sip of her coffee.

Commander Maraschino stepped in, her uniform and bun as immaculate as ever, quickly locating her captain, datapad in hand, and offered it to Hernandez, who took it. "Updated engineering duty rosters." Maraschino explained. "They believe they've got almost everything under control now. They're still requesting more staff though."

Hernandez nodded, before passing Maraschino the datapad she'd been working on. "I've been able to recruit another five, though it's not enough, there is some gathering interest." She added. "I've also found a replacement for Commander Tucker."

Maraschino looked up. "You don't intend to let Lieutenant Fisher continue in the role?"

Hernandez took another sip of coffee. "No, I spoke to her about it, and she doesn't want to take on that level of responsibility full time without prior experience in deep-space." She explained. "So we've agreed she can stay as the deputy as cover."

Maraschino admitted that made sense, though few of them had specifically deep-space experience, some were more confident with the unknown than others, and happier to apply what experience they did have to it. She had to admit, she didn't think she'd want to be in charge of a whole department when just a Lieutenant. "So when do we pick up these new guys?" She asked, as she finished scanning over the personnel records.

"We're scheduled to meet with the _Enterprise_ later today to transfer Mr Tucker over." Hernandez explained. "And then we're going to rendezvous with the _Shenandoah_ to pick up our new recruits." She added, before loading another report on Maraschino's datapad and trading it back for her own. "En route, however, Sutton has flagged that."

"M-class planet, chartered system but no reports on that planet beyond the basics." Maraschino read.

"We are here to explore." Hernandez reminded her.

"Indeed." Maraschino agreed. "But how did she find time to locate this when she's been taking advantage of the chaos in Engineering to 'recalibrate' her sensors?" She asked. "I've received four requests to ban her from the systems."

Hernandez chuckled into her coffee. "I got six." She added. "All backed down when I asked what she'd actually broken." She paused. "Corby's experiments with the phaser power were less successful, however..." She added.

"Well, now that they've confirmed the Xindi threat has been dealt with, hopefully things will calm down and the old interest in deep-space will resurface, enabling us to have a fully staffed engineering department, and therefore they will have no excuse to do things themselves any more" Maraschino surmised, a perhaps little optimistically.

"Or to be supervised." Hernandez agreed.

Considering the excitement of their maiden voyage - which hadn't supposed to consist of anything other than sol system warp testing - the crew had reacted remarkably well. In fact the bridge crew had already established a camaraderie that at least enabled them to work together efficiently, even if a few of the cogs still grated occasionally. As she returned to the bridge Maraschino noted that Tajock did as she did, and whilst technically supposed to assume the command chair when the Captain was absent - in her case, Tajock was next in command after her - if Hernandez was only in her ready room it was left vacant to enable them to perform their usual duties as well.

As they had not only left space-dock with some kinks in the system, they had gone and pushed their engines to their limits, and then got involved in a fire fight, everyone with engineering knowledge had been pulled into the engineering rosters. Which included both Lieutenant-Commander Sutton and Lieutenant Corby, who were currently absent from their science and tactical stations whilst two crewmen manned them in their absence. In the event of a tactical alert both knew to report back to their stations regardless of the roster.

Everyone knew when they docked with the _Enterprise_ , especially as Hernandez and Archer had scheduled an hour so that their crews could socialise, deciding it made sense for them to see some new - or indeed old as many had friends amongst the other crew - faces whilst they could.

"Good." Sutton agreed, as the ensign she was working with finished fixing the couplings back into place. Sutton was monitoring the stats on the panel nearby, pushing her wavy hair back over her shoulder from where it had fallen in it's half pony-tail as she leant to talk. "Power is holding steady within tolerance, now we just need to refine the buffer and we're done." She added, and the ensign grinned.

"You two undoing all my hard work?" A southern accent teased. Both Sutton and ensign turned around, Sutton raising an eyebrow and the ensign looking a little less sure of himself.

"And just how much of it is **your** hard work?" She teased.

Commander Tucker chuckled. "Got her out of space-dock for you, didn't I?" He asked, readjusting the bag at his shoulder. His transfer back to the _Enterprise_ hadn't been secret for long, and Sutton had found herself confused that she was the only one not surprised by the news. "Just don't put her back there too early." He requested.

"I'm not an engineer, that's not my promise to try and keep." Sutton corrected. "Though, hopefully, there'll be less fire fights." She added.

"I hear you're off to an unexplored M-class planet?" Tucker asked, and Sutton nodded. "A word of warning, the first time we did that, we found a hallucinogenic pollen that nearly had us all mutinying."

"Hallucinogenic pollen, noted." Sutton decided. "There was me hoping for something nice and simple."

"It's never that easy."

"And yet you were never going to stay away from the ship that is practically renowned for finding trouble..."

"How'd you know I wouldn't stay here? I didn't know that." Tucker asked.

Sutton gave him a look to suggest it was obvious. "Because you never referred to the _Columbia_ the same way as the _Enterprise_." She replied. "I know engineers, they might remain professional with their crew, but never their engines."

Tucker had to admit she had a point, and there was something in the way her face seemed to be trying to hide mischief, and that she was being polite by not mentioning any other reasons she suspected in front of the ensign. "The buffers are out of alignment by point seven." He added, before strolling away.

"We'll miss you too!" Sutton called over her shoulder, as both she and the ensign turned back to the monitors. "Cocky sod." Sutton muttered as she quickly determined he was right and the ensign quickly corrected his alignments.

The following morning there was an almost audible hum of anticipation as they approached their first unexplored planet. As Sutton said when she signed onto her shift, even Tajock looked like he might smile. Even if he had to yet again remind her his name was not Tarquin.

As Maraschino easily established them in an orbit Hernandez resisted getting up to pace again, and instead opened her chair-comm. "Doctor, have you had chance to review the biometric data?"

Doctor Lawson looked up from where he'd been reviewing his schedule for the day, still too much inventorying for his liking, but it had to be done. Instead he opened the comm on his desk as he loaded the data Sutton had sent him the previous day. "Yes, ma'am." He replied. "I've reviewed all your medical records and none of you are missing any of the shots I can recommend."

"Anything else we need to know about?" Hernandez asked.

"There's nothing to suggest any especially dangerous pathogens, but until you go down, you can never be certain. But I can't see anything that would suggest our decontamination procedures won't be able to handle it."

"I'll consider that a vote of confidence, doctor." Hernandez retorted, though she knew that he couldn't give them any definite answer. In the unknown everything was guesses - if they were lucky they were educated guesses. So she turned to her science officer, who today had her hair in a rather unkempt bun, it was a stark comparison to Maraschino's always immaculate one. "Recommendations?"

Sutton seemingly ignored her for a moment as she quickly pressed buttons before turning to half look at one of the screens above her head, indicating that they do the same. "Wildlife in this region looks relatively harmless, no worse than in many of the populated areas of America. And this range of near-coastal crags looks particularly interesting for mineral deposits and botanically."

"I didn't know you had an interest in botanics."

"I don't." Sutton corrected cheekily. "But there's a number of other scientists on board who do."

Hernandez considered herself told off, and reminded herself to get Sutton back later. That woman was definitely too mischievous for her own good, and whilst she didn't have a problem with her officers having a sense of humour or some banter, it was always an idea to keep them on their toes and relatively in their places. "Ok, we'll take down a preliminary party, and if it looks good then we'll bring down another shuttle of specialists to make further preliminary studies." Hernandez decided. "Sutton, Corby head down to the shuttle bay and make preparations And-"

"Captain." Tajock interrupted, though somehow respectfully all the same, and everyone turned to where the Vulcan sat. "Might I request to join you? After all I have set foot on over twenty planets, and there is a much better understanding of how Vulcan physiology reacts to different environments."

Hernandez considered his suggestion, before realising he had a point, and she nodded. So Tajock also summoned a replacement crewman before heading to join his colleagues down in the shuttle bay, and between the three of them they made quick work of making their preparations. Hernandez joined them slightly later, after pulling her captain's prerogative over Maraschino's insistence of not putting their commanding officer in unnecessary danger.

"You know how to use this, right?" Corby asked, as he held out a phaser to Sutton.

The scientist didn't know whether or not to chose disdain or cheerful ignorance. She decided on both as she gave him a look that made the ex-soldier reconsider his question, whilst taking it from him. "It's like this thing, point and shoot." She added waving her scanner in his face her usual optimistic tone back. "You do know what this shiny thing does, right?" She asked innocently, and Corby considered himself told off.

It was Hernandez who piloted them down - revelling in the chance to not only show off her flight skills, but also to take advantage of being able to do something other than her routine tasks. In some ways she missed her more junior days, when she had a broader range of tasks. She had taken an unorthodox route into the command section, starting off piloting and stocking shuttles before becoming the shuttle bay officer and showing an aptitude for organisation and leadership skills that Starfleet decided to hone and they transferred her across from the engineering sector to the command sector, taking on operational duties instead. To be back piloting a shuttle had a welcome nostalgic feeling.

As was the view. "Well, look at that." She breathed in wonder as they approached the coordinates that Sutton had supplied, and her small away-party all looked up, Corby moving to lean over her shoulder out of the view port. It really could have been Earth, though completely devoid of industrialisation and any other interference. A blank canvas. They would be setting down on a clearing of grasslands to the side of what appeared to be near the top of some rocky coastline, not quite mountainous, but a similar feel. Within their line of sight they could make out a tree line that was the start of a thin woodland.

Tajock was the first out of the shuttle, due to the way they had been seated more than design, though the three humans weren't far behind. Sutton instantly with her scanner in hand, Corby slipping on his SR2 cap whilst Hernandez scanned the horizon visually, taking in the similarities, the differences. The fact that they were the first humans to step foot on this planet, even the _Enterprise_ hadn't come here before them.

"Is this much plant life normal?" Corby asked, as he took in the scene around them, the field was scattered with a multitude of different coloured plants and flowers. Sutton didn't want to be asked to even offer an opinion on whether or not they were all benign, she wasn't a biologist.

"Well, as normal is going to differ for every place we visit... I'm going to guess, yes." Sutton replied, a little unsurely.

As Hernandez took a deep breath she could practically taste the pollen in the air, good job that none of her crew were showing any hay-fever symptoms, but she was also assuming that doctor Lawson would have either alerted her to any such issues or be dealing with it already. "Right, Sutton, you had mineral and botany interests?" She asked, going back to what her Lieutenant Commander had stated on the bridge, and Sutton nodded. "Well, Starfleet is always on the look out for potential colony spots. Sutton, you and I will go and investigate the minerals, Tajock and Corby you two go investigate the agriculture potential." She decided.

It didn't take Sutton long to explain where she'd seen the readings of interest, and downloaded the information she thought pertinent onto both Corby & Tajock's scanners, that directed them away from the rocks whilst Hernandez and Sutton were heading towards them.

It didn't take them long to traverse the lower part of the cliff, it almost looked as if half of it had been chiselled away the change was so steep to the west. "Well, look at that." Hernandez commented as she looked out over the body of water they were now overlooking.

Sutton looked up from her scanners, Hernandez had to admit she wasn't entirely sure how the woman had been able to find her footing as her eyes had seemed to be on the device rather than where she'd been walking. She briefly took in the horizon before raising her scanner again. "Apart from some tracer mineral differences it could well be Earth."

"Lieutenant, do you ever actually take in the sights rather than process it as data?" Hernandez teased, only using the first half of her science officer's rank.

Sutton shrugged with an innocent look on her face. "It's been known to happen." She paused, as she pressed some buttons. "There's a lot of metal ores in these cliffs, if the ships sensors show the same kind of deposits over the whole planet then we're looking at a good mining opportunity."

Hernandez nodded as she noted the information. So far this had good prospects for a colony, though it was perhaps a bit far from Earth considering most vessels didn't get to the same warp factors as the NX class. "Come on." She decided, heading towards the higher cliffs. "Just think how much better the view will be up here."

"Cap'n, are you sure..?" Sutton trailed off as she cast her gaze over the rocks.

"Not one for climbing?" Hernandez asked, already making good progress.

"Last time I was tied onto something." Sutton admitted, and Hernandez could tell it wasn't a frequent hobby for the scientist. Though she clearly realised she wasn't getting a choice in the matter, and so put away her scanner before following her captain.

Meanwhile Tajock and Corby were exploring the woodland they'd found on the other side of the flatlands that Sutton had pointed at with respect to agriculture potential. Or more rather as Tajock had stopped to scan for the soil composition Corby had spotted the woodland and had headed off to explore, and so the vulcan had been forced to follow him. "I'm not sure how this falls under our remit of 'agriculture'." Tajock stated as he caught up to the Lieutenant.

"Because you never know what threats lurk in darker areas." Corby replied. "It might be entirely possible that there are bears in these woods that would routinely destroy any crops someone would try to grow."

"You haven't even ascertained that crops would grow." Tajock refuted, as he lifted his own scanner. "And there are no lifeforms registering that are even our size let alone potential bears." He added.

"But what if they're not life as we know it?" Corby asked, turning to the vulcan, who clearly did not share his concerns. "Ah, fine, you got me." He pretended to confess. "This is more interesting than soil samples."

Tajock was interupted before he could rebuke the tactical officer by his communicator beeping. "Yes, Captain?"

"Hows the soil analysis going?" Hernandez asked.

Corby tried to look innocent as he shrugged when Tajock looked at him, the vulcan was less than impressed. "We still have some samples to take." Well, it wasn't a lie.

"Get side-tracked?" Hernandez teased. "Belay that for now, Sutton is organising a full team to come down and get a full report on the viability of this planet. So we can reassign the jobs once the specialists arrive."

Tajock confirmed the order before returning the communicator to his pocket. "It seems like you're having a lucky day." He observed, before ensuring the Lieutenant actually followed him back to the landing site. Before insisting on stopping to take a couple of soil samples so that they had some data to present in case they were asked. Corby, whilst reluctant, had to admit that was the sensible course of action.

Hernandez and Sutton were already back at the shuttle when they arrived, Sutton busy digging around in the shuttle for something. When Tajock asked what Hernandez shrugged and admitted that the explanation the scientist had come out with meant nothing to her. Hernandez almost thought she could hear Sutton roll her eyes at that. It wasn't long before the other shuttle arrived down, enabling Sutton to start dishing out tasks from medical to geological, whilst all more junior than herself they all had specialist knowledge in these areas that she didn't, so they would be better equipped to be the ones tasked with analysing the samples and determining what additional things needed doing that Sutton didn't think of.

It was just after Hernandez finished giving a quick protocol and safety briefing, and Sutton went to go into further details with the medic, that Tajock started hearing the voices, none directed at him, but discussions, observations, abstract snippets that made little sense. And one inappropriate comment from somewhere near where Sutton was stood. But he couldn't pinpoint where they were coming from.

It was Corby who noticed the vulcan's confusion first, the man seemed almost jumpy. "Sub-altern, are you ok?" He asked, stepping towards Tajock.

"You can't hear them?" Tajock asked, as Hernandez turned around, and Corby shook his head. "There's voices..."

"The scientists are chatting away, your hearing is probably just more sensitive." Corby dismissed.

"No!" Tajock almost shouted, before catching himself. But it was enough for Sutton to look up, along with a couple of the other scientists. "There's too many at once for it to just be them." He noticed Sutton indicate to the medic next to her to scan him. "There is nothing wrong with me!" He snapped.

Hernandez stepped foward. "Sub-altern, perhaps you should step inside the shuttle for a minute, take a drink and a break." She suggested.

"I do not need water the same as your species do." Tajock dismissed. "And I am fine." That's when he heard Sutton. "You're not a medic, let alone one qualified in vulcan physiology." He stated firmly.

Sutton looked at Hernandez and Corby, who looked equally as confused as she did about what Tajock thought she'd said. She motioned for the scanner off the medic, and quickly assimilated the data. "Actually, Tarquin, your adrenaline equivalent is 6% higher than average." She stated. "Brain activity is higher than-"

"Quiet!" That time Tajock did shout, as he clasped his hands to his head in a vain, and admittedly illogical, attempt to silence the voices he could hear. Their intensity growing as he realised that they had an interesting subject now. "I need... quiet." He decided more quietly, and before anyone could say anything he had turned and run back towards the woodland he and Corby had been in earlier.

Hernandez didn't have the time to scold Sutton for swearing as he did. "Anything useful on that?" She asked instead, indicating the scanner.

Sutton shook her head and handed it back to the medic. "Get doctor Lawson on the comm and send him the data, it might be that his equipment can break it down better and give us a better indiciation of what exactly has happened." She suggested, and the medic nodded, turning to be able to talk to him.

"Shall I track him, ma'am?" Corby asked.

Hernandez sighed. "Until we have a plan there's no immediate need. We have the shuttles, and unless he walks off a cliff he should be relatively safe."

Corby nodded, that made sense. "We always have phasers."

"You do realise even stun can be fatal if the target is already vulnerable, right?" Sutton checked, as she smacked her scanner, before showing vague satisfaction in it's performance afterwards.

"He's a vulcan, these things have-"

"Sutton is right, until we know more we shouldn't use them until we have to." Hernandez added.

"There's always the transporter..." Corby added.

"I don't need to be a scientist to tell you that's even more dangerous." Hernandez corrected, that was her emergency back-up, and whilst the technology had come on leaps and bounds in the last few years - helped by the practical data the _Enterprise_ had gathered during it's own adventures - she still didn't trust it entirely. Starfleet's official position had changed from cargo only to personnel in emergency to use with caution, it had not officially sanctioned the standardised use yet. "Sutton, any theories?"

Sutton shrugged as she reconsidered the possibilities yet again, and just as she re-examined the data on her scanner she realised that not only could she feel Corby's frustration at not being able to chase after their colleague, but she could feel the worry and almost fear off one of the scientists who wasn't even within her line of sight. "...I think." She stopped herself. "I think I have something totally crazy." She decided, checking on her scanner again.

"Crazy is better than nothing." Hernandez stated, before glaring at Corby for saying something about not needing more crazy, before the he looked at her as if to ask what he'd said. She turned back to her science officer.

"Before he left Commander Tucker said something about the first planet they found had some sort of hallucinogenic pollen - I checked the reports and it increased their paranoia and fear and made them all completely irrational." Sutton explained. "What if there's something similar here, but only affects vulcan physiology, or at least affects them more strongly than us." She paused. "There's enough foreign bodies in the atmosphere for one of them to be affecting us in unknown ways."

"But why would he hear voices?" Hernandez asked.

"My best guess?" Sutton asked, and Hernandez nodded. "Vulcan's are touch-telepaths." She spared Corby an exasperated look. "Don't worry, he can't read your mind even if he did start touching you. It takes considerable training for them to be able to focus it, even when touching." She shook her head. "Anyway, my point is, what if it's something that's significantly amplified the effect, so in effect made him telepathic, but he has no way of shutting it out, so all he can hear is what we're thinking."

"He said there were more voices than could be attributed to just us." Corby corrected.

"How often do you only think about one thing at once?" Sutton asked, as if it were incomprehensible that someone would.

Hernandez almost laughed at the opposite looks on her two senior officers faces. "It could make sense, but what do we do if you're right?"

"Hope doctor Lawson can come up with a way of reversing the effects and sedating him safely here to be able to do it?" Sutton suggested. "I think I can get near enough for him not to freak about too many voices."

"How?" Corby asked. "You're probably the one he heard a thousand thoughts at once from in the first place..."

"I practically lived among vulcans for a year, I learnt a thing or two about how to control all this." Sutton explained, waving her hand at her head.

"Remind me to ask about that." Hernandez stated, as she waved the medic over so that she could essentially hijack the talk with Dr Lawson. "What do you know about the situation, doctor?"

Dr Lawson was looking at his many monitors at the data one of the junior members of his team had sent. "That you couldn't have a nice boring mission after our maiden voyage?"

"I like to keep my officers on their toes." Hernandez teased. "Did you hear Sutton's theory?"

"No. Tell me it doesn't involve fire."

"Only one of those was my fault!" Sutton corrected defensively as Dr Lawson chuckled, before requesting her theory, and so she repeated it to someone vastly more knowledgeable medicine than her.

Dr Lawson wasn't sure where to start once she'd finished, he plumped for pinching the bridge of his nose as he sighed. "I hate it when crazy makes sense." He muttered.

"Well, do we have a way to contain the situation?" Hernandez asked, deciding not to let Sutton reply to that.

"I'd normally say it'd be very simple, I have a sedative that should work even given the amplified levels of adrenaline and brain activity, even a vulcan." Doctor Lawson replied, his eyes still glued on the data that Sutton had had forwarded onto him. "Give me a chance to run some simulations to check and then I can transport it down to you."

"Don't we run the risk of compromising it's integrity with the transporter?" Corby asked, before trying not to glare at Sutton's exasperation with him.

"Medical supplies have been transported for years now, there's no ill effects noted." Sutton replied. "But so long as I know what it is I can scan it once it's arrived to check."

Hernandez nodded. "Get to it, I want this resolved as soon as possible." She added, as Sutton raised her scanner to her commanding officer. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not sure it's only affecting Tarquin." Sutton explained, turning the scanner to Corby not even batting an eyelash as she practically heard his objections, before then scanning herself. "Might as well get the data whilst we can, just in case we need to take further steps."

"We should call in the research teams." Hernandez decided.

"They've been here significantly less long than us, give them another hour then order them off planet." Sutton suggested. "It's taken at least this long to affect us only a fraction of the amount it's affected a vulcan. Maybe send down another group then in case we've all gone completely off our rockers."

Hernandez was starting to worry though, she could feel Corby's scoff about Sutton already being off her rocker, and whilst she wasn't entirely sure, she was starting to think that Sutton's calm explanation of events was really a front of a worried scientist.

Just under a hour later Hernandez had the superfluous scientists leave the planet, with orders for a group of their security men to come down to help in case their plan went awry. Doctor Lawson had just beamed down a supply of his sedative, saying his simulations had worked out as expected, though Sutton didn't need to voice that simulations meant very little compared to real life data, and explained that he'd put another package in with the men who were to join them. Just in case.

Sutton quickly retrieved the package, and soon had it verified whilst Corby quickly located Tajock. Luckily the vulcan hadn't gone out of their scanners range, but he'd still gone a fair distance. "The longer we're here the worse it's getting, for us too. It's possible that we will only be able to get so close before he moves away from us." Sutton explained as they set off.

"You said you had a plan."

"I said I could get **me** close enough." Sutton explained. "Not all three of us."

As they hiked Sutton made many attempts to explain how the vulcans had taught her how to focus her mind, using simple repetitive physical tasks. Her preferred one was rolling her middle finger across her palm, like how you're advised when donating blood, that had received blank looks and so she had attempted another explanation. She had tried until eventually just giving up and telling them to make sure they only thought about one thing and one thing only and don't let their minds deviate from it regardless of what's going on.

They got as near as Corby dared before he stopped them and split them up so that if Tajock made a run for it someone would have a chance of intervening. Sutton reiterated that the phasers were a last resort, but she wasn't sure that Corby had any intention of listening to her, despite the look she gave him. Possibly not helped when she suggested she joke that she'd left the sedative back at the shuttle to ease Hernandez's mind, her captain had not taken kindly to the joke.

By design Sutton approached first, it took barely any time for Tajock to look at her, she was only surprised he wasn't looking at her the moment he came within her view. "Sub-altern?" She asked, slowly continuing her approach, her mind occupied by repeating the motion of her fingers.

"Stay away!" He snapped, Sutton halted her approach, knowing vulcans well enough to understand that when their control was taken away from them they found it difficult to function.

"Why?" Sutton asked simply.

"Because it'll make the voices come back!" Tajock explained, still sat on the woodland floor. "I can still hear too many..."

"And how many are because of me?" Sutton asked, Tajock didn't reply at first. "How many?" She repeated more firmly.

Tajock stood up carefully looking at her curiously. "You've controlled them..." He noted. "How?"

Sutton raised her hand, taking a single step closer. "I know a few things." She admitted. "I can make them all go away if you let me."

The vulcan in front of her seem to consider this, she could almost feel the tension from him where she was stood a couple of feet away. This was hard for him. He could probably hear everything in the wood, not just her and the other crewmen. The silence stretched on long enough for Sutton to start to worry he was going to bolt, but she held her nerve, keeping her mind insistently on the motion of her hand. Eventually Tajock nodded. "Do I wish to know how?" He asked as she started carefully coming towards him again.

"I promise to explain once it's done." Sutton replied. "I might get sidetracked if I explain now."

"That makes sense." Tajock admitted, and Sutton didn't allow herself the moment to appreciate the fact he was making fun of her. She was almost stood next to him now, it would not do to spook him by being distracted now.

She got close enough that she dared risk reaching for the hypospray with her left hand, the one that wasn't preoccupying her thoughts. Tajock started, he clearly sensed the second line of thought. "I promise, it'll be fine." Sutton reiterated, the hypospray visible in her hand now.

However Tajock's sudden movement had been enough for Corby to dive out from where he was hiding, shouting at her to duck.

"Corby, no!" Sutton added, before realising that even if he listened to her calling him off, it was moot. Abandoning the preoccupation technique she grabbed her own phaser and fired, before running and diving at Tajock, knowing her only chance now was to prevent him from being able to move. That was easier said than done, she managed to topple them, but being a vulcan he was far stronger than her, however she only had to hang on long enough to administer the hypospray. She quickly abandoned her pursuit of his neck, instead jabbing it against the arm he'd grabbed her's with. A second later he'd tossed her off him, she landed sprawled in the mud and grass nearby, but by the time she'd started to lift herself up Tajock had unceremoniously stumbled to the floor as the sedative took quick effect.

Sutton decided that she'd rather stay where she was for a moment, taking a breath as she tried to work out what hurt from her landing. She wasn't sure if she heard the footstep of the amused thoughts of Hernandez as her captain stepped next to her. Sutton turned to look up, unsure if she wanted to.

"Well, Lieutenant, which one do you want to carry?" Hernandez asked, surveying the scene. Her science officer had just managed to take out both her tactical and communications officers. One by surprise and the other by their impairment, but it was still unexpected.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven for firing on a fellow officer?"

Hernandez chuckled. "I think you better ask him when he wakes up." Sutton gave a wry smile as she pushed herself up and quickly sought out her phaser where she'd tossed it to chase Tajock.

Hernandez ended up with Corby as they agreed that it would be better if Sutton was present if Tajock woke up unexpectedly soon. They were within sight of the shuttle when Corby came too, and they took a moment to allow him to regain consciousness, Sutton looking surprisingly innocent when he asked who shot him. Before he was forced to admit it was a good aim. The rest of their progress was faster as there were now two of them available to carry Tajock the remainder of the way.

Doctor Lawson kept Tajock completely sedated overnight, whilst he was confident that he would flush out all of the pollen and it's effects before then, he wanted to be sure before he risked waking Tajock up. In a confined spaceship the effects would be much worse. "Something I believe you have already discovered." He added as Sutton held out the left over hyposprays to him.

She nodded, brushing her wet hair back out of her face. They had all been debriefed on return from the surface, checked over and dismissed. Now she'd had time to pull the twigs out of her hair and clean up she'd come to return the unused gear. "It's fading quite quickly though." She added.

Lawson nodded. "That makes sense, as humans we're not really supposed to be telepathic."

"No discipline?" Sutton teased.

"Amongst other things." Lawson agreed. "Do you know any of these new recruits we're picking up in the morning?"

Sutton shook her head. "Berry wants a step by step of the mission today, I can ask her what she knows?" She suggested.

"Berry?"

"Maraschino." Sutton replied. "Holly & maraschinos are both berries, so it's what people call her, apparently." Lawson considered that a reasonable explanation, considering the day they'd had.

The following morning saw their rendevous with the _Shenandoah_ for their transfers, and Tajock returned to duty following Lawson's discharge, saying that as Tajock was reporting no further symptoms he had no reason to continue to hold him. So other than being uncharacteristically late for duty as he needed to return to his quarters first, it appeared to be a normal day.

"So, Sub-altern, what interesting snippets did you hear then?" Corby asked once the vulcan had got settled back into his duties.

"Nothing you want me to disclose on the bridge, I'm sure." Tajock retorted.

"It's not what's in my head that I don't know." Corby replied.

"Really?" Tajock asked. "Having overheard some of what's in there, I'm not so sure."

Corby glared at the Vulcan as Maraschino and Sutton tried not to laugh. "It rather explains a lot." Sutton added.

"You're one to talk." Corby almost snorted.

"We don't need pollen with psycho-activating properties to know that my brain is not wired like everyone else's." Sutton agreed brightly, as the turbo-lift door opened to reveal their captain. Followed by a tall, dark-skinned man with ruffled black hair that none of them recognised, wearing the engineering colours.

"Welcome to the bridge." Hernandez welcomed, stepping out ahead of her new chief engineer. "As you can tell my senior officers are very busy." She added, Sutton looked about to pipe up with a smart arse reply but deflated on the look Hernandez gave her. "Lieutenant Commander Nukunda, this is my bridge crew." She introduced, before reeling off their stations, ranks and names.

"Hi." He greeted with half a smile. "So, psycho-active pollen... Yeah, I'm guessing it's not dull around here."

Sutton giggled as everyone else had a wry smile on their faces, apart from Tajock who seemed rather unperturbed. "Oh, dull would be great." Maraschino decided. "Well, for a little while." She added.

* * *

Cinn: I'm not sure if this was the direction people were expecting or wanting, but this was the direction I'd always planned on taking. Hopefully next time I'll be able to flesh out more of them than just the main few that were focused on in this one. Reviews are always appreciated.


	3. What is it Supposed to Look Like?

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill.

Cinn: Thanks to those who reviewed, and hopefully despite the time it took me to get this written, I hope some people are still interested in it.

* * *

Doctor Lawson just about managed to resist smirking as he stepped up to Corby to offer a hand back up. "I make that three games to one." He stated.

Lieutenant Corby scowled at the doctor before accepting the hand up, it was only a game of squash after all "That's some precision strike you've got, Doc."

Lawson brushed his light brown hair out of his face, it wasn't long, but after a hard-fought game of squash it had a habit of getting in his face. "I did operate on people for a living, it requires a precise touch."

"And there was me thinking it was more involved than that." Corby teased.

"That depends on what interesting diseases you guys bring back with you." Lawson retorted, checking his watch. "I better clean up before I'm back on duty. Please try to keep away missions mundane, it wasn't a challenge." He added, collecting his things, realising that the ex-jar head of their tactical officer often did see challenges where they'd rather he didn't. Though it wasn't helped when Sutton seemed to deliberately issue impossible ones just to watch him suffer. Lawson was also certain Maraschino egged her on.

"No promises." Corby retorted before taking a long swig of water. "Rematch?"

"See how sore you are tomorrow first." Lawson replied before the door slid shut behind him.

"Cheeky sod." Corby muttered, before heading to clean up before his own shift.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Captain Hernandez was going over the preliminary data Sutton had gathered on the nearest three star systems. The science officer was giving her the run down on the operations table. The scientist at first had seemed despondent at what she termed 'bog standard' systems, gas giants that could be mined for fuels, a couple of asteroid belts that could similarly be mined for minerals, a run down of tactical positioning relative to the various space faring nations they knew. Only one M-class planet, and that's where she'd perked up again. "Is there something particularly special about this one, or are you just taking your kicks where you can?" Hernandez teased, Sutton knew her stuff, but she tended to err on the upbeat side where she could.

"This one has a civilisation." Sutton explained, instantly pulling the data feeds up on the table. "I'm not sure if they count as pre-industrial because they haven't followed the same kind of pattern as most of earth's nations. They're relatively still few in numbers, however they have machines of more than a rudimentary nature."

"How advanced then?" Hernandez asked for clarification.

Sutton made a noise and shrugged her shoulders as she tried to come to a definite conclusion on sketchy data. "I'm going to say our nearest equivalent was the Roman empire." She decided. "Their ability to provide power to their infrastructure is limited, but what infrastructure they have is very impressive." She paused as she pulled up some of their surveillance "They have water supplies, complete sewage systems, rudimentary hydro and wind power for their mills and assorted machinery, and their agriculture is well organised and tended." She paused. "It might also be because our sensors don't know their specific biology, but we're not picking up much in the way of disease, which suggests a decent knowledge of medicine."

Hernandez took in all the information Sutton had provided, before looking up. "No."

"I haven't asked a question." Sutton added defensively.

"We're not going down and scouting out their culture." Hernandez clarified. "They're clearly pre-warp, and from what you tell me pre-industrial, our presence would only interfere."

"Not if we're really, really careful." Sutton objected. "It's been done before, and not just by the _Enterprise_ , but the vulcans also regularly employ such tactics if they believe a situation merits it." Hernandez was about to cut in but Sutton was faster. "Look, they work with the land, not against it like our ancestors did. For too long our history has been about subduing nature to work the land, rather than learning it to tame it. If we're serious about colonising planets then those going will be best armed with all the knowledge they can for when things inevitably go wrong."

"Inevitably?"

"You travel millions of light years away from earth with a set amount of supplies with the intent on starting a new home? Yeah, there's so many things that could go wrong, you have to expect that somewhere it will." Hernandez had to admit she had a point, but decided not to comment as she instead zoomed further in on the video logs they had of the planet. It wouldn't be infeasible for doctor Lawson to pass off two of their crewmen as their species.

After all, they were explorers, Hernandez decided. "And how much of your fascination has to do with the fact they appear to represent all our elven myths?" Hernandez teased.

"We have the vulcans for that." Sutton quipped, following with an innocent grin as her captain had to pretend to glare at her.

"Finish collating you data and then head down to see doctor Lawson and the quartermaster, they'll need a hand preparing the people I chose to send." Hernandez ordered.

"I don't-?"

Sutton didn't get to finish her question. "You have a report to finish writing on that nebula cluster." Hernandez reminded her.

"Noted." Sutton agreed, clearly disappointed, but she couldn't argue that rewarding her with a field mission for not completing her work - no matter how legitimate her reasons actually were - was not fair. Hernandez knew why it wasn't finished, Sutton had been drafted down to engineering after a minor incident whilst scouting the nebula, and therefore had requested a deadline extension that had been granted. That didn't mean she got another for free.

Hernandez strolled towards her chair whilst Sutton finished up at the table, taking a seat as she surveyed her senior officers. Tajock was an obvious choice, as he would require the least amount of work from doctor Lawson, the question was who to send with him. Normally she'd elect herself, this was her mission after all, but she wanted to minimise the risk of exposure by sending as few people as possible, so she needed a completely disparate set of skills to what Tajock had. Not to mention she didn't think Admiral Forrest would agree that this mission would be a valid reason for putting off the video conference, again.

So having already eliminated Sutton that left Corby and Maraschino as the obvious candidates, especially as they both had additional combat training in case things got hairy. They wouldn't be able to go in armed with phasers. Maraschino was better adapted to being able to blend in and talk her way out of inexplicable situations, but Corby was the better solider - he actually was a soldier in his last occupation - and knew how to take orders when issued by a superior, even if he did have a tendency to argue about those he felt were unnecessarily risky.

A crewman had already settled in at the science station by the time Hernandez made up her mind. "Maraschino, Tajock, come with me please." She decided, pushing herself out of her seat as her two crew members looked up before standing to follow, both calling for a replacement as they did. Hernandez led them both to the operations table and briefed them on their mission, explaining their aims and time, and that Sutton would provide the cultural details whilst they were getting prepared by doctor Lawson.

They arrived in sick bay to find doctor Lawson talking to Sutton, who was sat on one of the beds with a selection of robes draped over it next to her, looking far too innocent. "Why do I feel like we're about to become test subjects?" Maraschino asked, Sutton simply grinned.

"Because we are." Tajock determined.

Sutton hopped down from her seat, beckoning them over as she gathered up some of the robes she'd requisitioned off the quartermaster. Holding them up and then either throwing them at Maraschino or Tajock or back onto the bunk. Where Sutton apparently forgot to explain, Lawson picked up her data-pad and showed their slightly bewildered colleagues the pictures, enabling them to get a sense of how to arrange their new clothing. As Maraschino and Tajock went to sort their new dress code out, Sutton took back her data-pad, rolling her eyes muttering something about patience. Lawson grinned as he tried not to laugh. Sutton started explaining what brief information they'd gleaned from the limited surveillance they had starting with the clothing and moving onto cultural observations, both Maraschino and Tajock agreeing and suppositioning on likely behaviour patterns that they would encounter, but to play it safe and try not to interact until they'd gotten a feel for their customs.

"Surely interaction is to be avoided at all costs? We're not going to know their language." Maraschino asked.

"No." Tajock corrected. "Impressive improvements have been made in translation programs. We've benefited significantly from the work that the _Enterprise_ \- and specifically Ensign Sato - have done in the field, she's made great leaps in practical applications. So long as we've got enough of a sample we should be able to use it with little problem." Maraschino considered herself told as she shook her robes down properly, returning to be inspected, with little jazz hands and everything, just short of ta-da.

"The sash should be lower, it's not really like a scarf." Sutton tried to explain. "And you're going to have to untie your hair."

"That can wait until after I've done my work." Lawson interrupted "Please, take a seat." He added, indicating the seat he'd set up. Tajock reappeared moments later, Sutton briefly nodded before indicating he turn, which he did, and she quickly stepped up to him, handed him the data-pad and tied the sash in the same knot she'd seen in the pictures. Tajock silently wondered how he'd missed that.

Over the next hour Lawson completed his work whilst Sutton continued to explain what they'd got on the pictures and videos, it wasn't much, but the more they discussed it the more fall back plans they could have. Including the geography and where they could land a shuttle and probably not be seen. "So we enter atmosphere here, and travel low across this path and we should be able to stay out of sight." Maraschino explained drawing over the data-pad, before Sutton swatted at her hand as she lifted it away from the data-pad to itch at her jaw.

Doctor Lawson had to admit he was proud of his work, Maraschino's ears had been tricky, as the woman had kept twitching. But the intricate ridges that lined both their cheeks from their jaws had turned out better than he had originally hoped. They looked like two columns of arrows, the one nearer the ears up and the ones nearer the nose down. "They will withstand limited rain and movement. But I would advise against prolonged exposure to the elements and aggressive exercise."

"What equipment do we get?" Tajock asked.

"As little as we can get away with, so probably nothing more than your communicators and basic supplies." Sutton explained. "Cap'n wants to keep culture contamination risk to the absolute minimum."

"So we get a shuttle pod?" Maraschino teased.

"Do you want to use the transporter?" Sutton challenged.

"No."

"Exactly."

Tajock decided instead to get the conversation back on track. "I take it we're to operate on standard check in routines?" He asked, and Sutton nodded to confirm.

"Remember the most imperative thing is not to interfere with their culture. If possible we'll extract you, but depending on the amount of trouble you stir up it might not be feasible" Sutton explained. "So be careful."

"Says you." Maraschino teased, and Sutton pretended to look innocent. After they checked there wasn't anything that had been missed Tajock and Maraschino went to requisition and shuttle and the supplies they needed. Sutton and doctor Lawson went to tidy up before getting back to their regular duties.

There was little question of who was piloting, Maraschino didn't give Tajock any time to suggest anything other than it being her right. Not that he had any intention of doing so, but Maraschino was used to people trying to muscle in. She had found it easiest to just not give people the option of anything else. "Used to playing copilot?" She teased as she started up the shuttle and Tajock settled himself comfortably into the copilot chair. Though, as a vulcan, he very rarely looked uncomfortable doing anything. Maraschino made a note to try and get him to play poker some time, she wanted to know whether or not vulcans could bluff as well as they should with that perfected emotionless state.

Tajock gave her an affirmative as he set to his tasks, he knew she didn't really doubt him, but as a responsible pilot she needed to know whether or not he was not only proficient but comfortable in the role. Turned out they were an efficient pair as he was able to time his request for leave as she finished all her system checks, and they were under way They would be timing their descent to early dawn, as they couldn't go in daylight but Maraschino had explicitly refused to use the external lights, saying that that would draw just as much undue attention. Morning twilight enabled her to do it on the scanners with limited sight, Hernandez hadn't particularly approved of that plan, but she hadn't been able to refute it either.

Maraschino was careful, a stark contrast to how she preferred to fly shuttles - she liked to push their limits, test what they could do - but necessary to enable them to pull this off without being seen. They had descended far away from any discernible civilisation, and she was now flying low over rocky crags and hills, using them to keep them out of sight as best she could. Tajock was reading out the important telemetry data, allowing her to keep her senses trained on the visuals, correcting as necessary. It felt a lot longer than the fifteen minutes it actually was that it took to get to the landing zone Sutton had found for them, and Maraschino let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. She needed to reacquaint herself with the shuttles, she didn't used to get that worried about these kind of missions. She reported a successful landing back to the _Columbia_ before turning to Tajock. "How long till the sun's fully up?" She asked, as they both moved to exit the shuttle after a brief equipment check.

"Just under an hour." Tajock replied. "Enough time to get us far enough away from the shuttle." Maraschino nodded as they locked it up behind them, almost wishing it had a camouflage function.

"At least we should arrive at the town at a reasonably inconspicuous time."

Meanwhile on the _Columbia_ it had just turned to lunchtime, and Hernandez was thanking her yeoman for the coffee as he left to get their lunches. "So, Lieutenant Commander, I haven't had much of a chance to check how you're settling in." She started after she'd taken a sip of coffee.

Her new head of engineering was sat opposite her, cautiously sniffing his own cup before deciding it wasn't going to bite him and taking a sip himself, apparently pleasantly surprised judging by the look on his face afterwards. Hernandez hid her smile in her own cup. "It's certainly not lacking in jobs." Nukunda decided tactfully.

That did make Hernandez chuckle. "I'm not sure I'm used to my senior officers being so diplomatic." She commented.

Nukunda smiled as he nodded ruefully. "Does this have to do with the picture of Sutton with the word banned over it?" He asked.

"There's not one of Corby too?"

"Somehow, I think he scares them less." Nukunda admitted. "Sutton has a spark of imagination for the impossible, and makes it possible." He observed, as they both thanked the yeoman for the lunch of warm chicken salads he placed in front of them. Hernandez didn't think she'd heard it put so aptly. "However, Commander Tucker did a good job. The _Columbia's_ holding up well considering the strain of her first few weeks, and I think we'll have all the problems dealt with relatively soon. No promises, but I'm hoping the end of next week. Though once we've eliminated everything we know of I'd like to run some stress tests to double check."

"That's good news, and once you're done run a recommended list of tests to me and we'll see if we can find a nice quiet star system to run them in." Hernandez agreed. "Now, tell me you do actually stop work sometimes? Last thing I need is to find another chief engineer." She teased.

"I'll let you know when we've fixed everything." Nukunda joked.

"If you're going to work the department that hard I better organise some liberty soon."

Meanwhile on the planet Tajock and Maraschino were trying not to look too conspicuous as they found a market in the town they'd entered. Tajock noticed that Maraschino had got noticeably jumpier since they'd encountered crowds, and he could understand her worry, they were more likely to be found out when there were more people about rather than situations in which they could easily slip from sight. Maraschino had already said that slipping out of sight in a crowd only worked if no one raised an alarm, and in that event it was infinitely more dangerous - her words. His observation was that she was hyper vigilant, which was a trait he found unusual in a human.

"How much longer till the translator kicks in?" Maraschino whispered in his ear. She was getting agitated about the fact that she still couldn't understand what people were saying around her. She could get the general gist, she'd already figured out the mannerisms around bartering, the way they silently registered disapproval. But she would rather prefer to understand the words.

"Hopefully soon." Tajock replied quietly. "It's already picked out some key words and phrases." Maraschino nodded briefly, not quite reassured. The program had at least managed to get as far as common greetings and courtesies, which meant that when people were friendly when passing by they were able to respond without offence. Though it also appeared to have picked out numbers as Tajock could understand the offers that stall keepers were shouting to advertise their wares.

"I suppose the more important question is whether or not we can eat any of their food..." Maraschino added quietly.

"I have already scanned several varieties of their fruit and vegetables, and they share many similar enzymes to both our diets, I believe that we should be relatively safe." Tajock replied calmly, Maraschino turned sharply, surprised and completely unaware that he'd been able to scan without drawing any attention to his actions. "But stay away from the cabbage looking ones, they will kill you."

"Noted." Maraschino agreed, looking up at a crude estimation of time, before reaching inside of her robes to subtly press a button on her communicator as a silent way of checking in. A quick burst of Morse code static for the comms officer to register, before they moved on.

After another hour or so the universal translator algorithms had kicked in properly and they were able to understand and interact - though both agreed that should be kept to a minimum - with the people. They were apparently rather friendly, and they were able to purchase some food for their lunch. Tajock saw Maraschino's subtle head shake when he was about to ask where she got the money from - don't. He realised that was probably for the best.

Eating appeared to be a heavily social activity, with many groups gathered in open public spaces to tuck into their food, chatting lively and laughing as they did. Maraschino and Tajock shared a look before Maraschino shrugged and decided that they should join in, and moved to find a relatively empty space nearby. Sitting on a low wall that bordered long rows of colourful plants and flowers that seemed to trace a sort of path, with a fountain not far away, before it took off at a rather jaunty angle. Mainly to avoid the farmland it approached. The city and farmland were very intertwined with no real districts, the market seemed to be a central point between many, but other than that shops, crops and houses all seemed to be mixed in together intersected by the occasional industrial building, such as the windmills or what Tajock was assuming was part of the water and/or sewage systems.

They were not the only ones sat upon the wall, and there were many others sat on the grass nearby as well. Pretty much everywhere really. They decided to do without conversation, as they would easily be overheard and both doubted their conversations would make much sense to anyone nearby and thus risk some sort of cultural contamination, and instead tucked into their food. Maraschino especially pleasantly surprised by the flavour in what they'd picked up.

Maraschino was just in the process of trying to catch the drips from what appeared to be a very green grapefruit when everyone around them seemed to freeze, causing both her and Tajock to copy mostly out of fear of what was about to come rather than any inclination to fit in. Suddenly what appeared to be an alarm went up and everyone scrambled. "Follow." Maraschino stated firmly, pointing towards those who seemed to be running further into the city rather than the buildings they'd already past. They broke into a run after them, before Maraschino was forced to shield her head, reeling as something sounded like it exploded to her left, Tajock grabbed her and dragged her away as she recovered her senses. Spotting someone who was yelling at them to get to cover, offering them shelter. Neither wanted to think about how close a call that was, as Tajock quickly checked over Maraschino's appearance, they were lucky, Dr Lawson's work had held, so they still blended in.

They appeared to be in some kind of bunker, or at least if it was a building with another purpose, this room didn't serve any. It was bleak, no decoration or even proper flooring, just raw brickwork and ground. Or perhaps that was how these people built, what they liked. Everyone looked worried, having claimed their spot and apparently worriedly content to sit it out now that the door was shut. As Maraschino and Tajock claimed a spot next to a wall they could still hear the noises from outside, quick blasts followed by gleeful shouts. Neither of them had got a look at what was attacking.

"You're not from around here..?" A young boy had crept towards them slightly, and Maraschino shook her head, unsure of what to say. "Does this happen where you come from?" He asked, clearly hopeful.

"There's always someone willing to cause trouble." Maraschino replied cryptically.

"This is more than someone causing trouble." One of the older women scoffed, or at least, Maraschino was guessing she was one of the elders, she had to admit she wasn't sure how these people aged. Heck, they didn't actually know what these people were called yet. "This is a civil war so old no one knows what started it any more" Maraschino was going to kill Sutton, how could she not know she was suggesting they go into a war zone?

"Then why do you still fight?" Tajock asked.

"Cafri don't run away from a conflict!" The woman retorted, clearly horrified. "Or at least, not real cafri." She added scornfully. "Which clan did you abandon?"

Maraschino and Tajock exchanged a brief look, Maraschino pretended to look a little guilty. "Far to the north, you wouldn't know the lands." She replied, that had been their cover story, only to go into further details when pushed and it was unavoidable, the vaguer they could keep it the easier it would be for them.

"If this is war, why does it not look like a war zone?" Tajock asked, deflecting attention from them.

Everyone else seemed to find that funny. "What is a war zone supposed to look like?" One of the men asked, and they had to admit, he had a point. "We compete for space, supplies... people." He explained. "All our tribes have different tactics, as do all theirs." He paused. "This is clearly a nomadic tribe, they want supplies and maybe people because they don't keep their own space."

"So which tactics do you employ?" Maraschino asked. "Saying this is a war suggests you fight back."

"That is none of your concern." Was the tert reply, they figured that was fair.

Maraschino and Tajock remained quiet as bits of conversation struck up around them, the cafri careful not to talk too loud in case they heard. Both thinking about how best to handle this, Maraschino looked out from under her loose, dark hair around the dark shelter they were in. It would be safest to leave, promptly, once the danger was over. Whether or not that would invoke more suspicion she wasn't sure, would they have guards that would try and stop them? Especially if somehow they thought they were spies for this other faction, she didn't think they'd done anything to invoke such suspicions, but it was hard to be sure of such things.

In short; she was definitely going to kill Sutton when they got back to the ship. Or haunt her, she thought as an afterthought.

Tajock was calmly observing their situation, like Maraschino determining that speed and low-key were equally important. On reflection, he placed inconspicuous higher. But the old woman was looking at them far too warily, and the way that Maraschino was clearly poised like a cornered sehlat, she'd noticed too.

Eventually the cafri decided it was safe enough to open the doors again, as they hefted the bar out of it's hooks and carefully shoved the door open. Maraschino had to admit she didn't realise a shove could be done so carefully. Only allowing a few people out before the rest were also allowed to follow. Maraschino and Tajock also headed back out into the sunlight, initially they offered help to rebuild the damaged stalls, walls, anything that they would be able to help with, but clearly word got around, it didn't take long for them to be removed from a task they were given to rebuffed even from the start.

"We need to leave." Tajock stated simply, quietly when there were few people near them.

"And if they follow us?" Maraschino asked.

"We lose them as best we can." Tajock replied. "We leave the opposite way to which we came, they will know the land better, but we should be able to lose them long enough."

"Transporter." Maraschino filled in. "Not giving away the shuttle for us to come back for." Tajock nodded once, both trying not to look too suspicious as another few cafri passed them. "Well we've got nothing to lose." She figured.

So they headed towards the opposite end of the small town that they had entered at, few people gave them much heed beyond a few glares designed to warn them away from helping. They were most of the way past the more industrial buildings - though that was overstating it, these were simply less agricultural, more robust rather than rustic buildings designed for their infrastructure needs - towards another main route out of the town when they were jumped.

They got Tajock first, but only because Maraschino had become suspicious of the rather large group of people that appeared to be blocking part of the main pathway, a tactic to get them to where they were wanted. It gave her the few seconds extra to make an attempt to outwit them, unfortunately whilst she was able to twist out of their initial grab, their technique of fighting using their sashes as an addition to their punches and attacks completely flummoxed her when not used to garrotte. So now she was firmly pinned by a sash to a cafri significantly larger and stronger than her, there were two holding Tajock in place, another warily eyeing the vulcan as if unsure if that would hold him. Maraschino resisted smirking that it took a minimum of two of them to restrain the vulcan, at least he had attempted a fight. Normally she didn't wish she were taller, but right now she had a feeling the fact she was only five foot two had let her down. Unfortunately her natural agility that came with her lithe form hadn't helped against the unusual tactics. She definitely needed to start incorporating non-human tactics into her training routines, as they were carted off she briefly wondered if Tajock would be willing to help with that.

Meanwhile on the _Columbia_ Sutton was looking rather triumphant. "That report, Cap'n." She stated, handing Hernandez a data-pad

"I knew banning you from field work would motivate you." Hernandez teased.

"Next time tell Nukunda he can't have my help." Sutton retorted

"As if we could stop you from going into engineering." Corby muttered.

"I heard that." Sutton replied calmly as she retook her seat at her station.

Before Corby was able to add anything to his comment the young ensign sat at the comms station piped up. "Captain, Commander Maraschino and Sub-Altern Tajock have missed their last check in."

That caused everyone to look up, with varying degrees of concern. "By how long?" Hernandez asked, it was clear that it was the senior officers who looked least worried, hoping it was just a hyper diligent and nervous new recruit worried about a minor delay. Whilst the regulations were clear, the longer you did this, the more you relaxed about minor delays in protocol. You had to for your own blood pressure.

"Half an hour." The ensign replied.

Sutton didn't even wait to be told before turning her chair to access her viewer. "Do you have any location data from their previous check ins?" She asked, not looking at the ensign as she started scanning. Hopefully the people down there were significantly different for her to distinguish a vulcan and a human from. If not, she could probably isolate their limited tech. The ensign forwarded on the information and Sutton traced her scanner along the route they had, after that it would be guesswork. As it happened they weren't far off, and by isolating their tech signals she was easily able to confirm the two 'unusual' life forms on the planet. "Got them." She stated calmly.

"Still alive?" Maraschino asked.

"Yep." Sutton replied, eyes still firmly down the viewer. "They're in a larger group, which is likely why they haven't signed in."

"We've been using silent sign ins all day." The ensign piped up.

"That doesn't require them to excuse themselves for discretion." Hernandez agreed as Sutton finally looked up. Before turning up to the monitors above her viewer, tapping on the side of it with her fingers as she thought. Before turning sharply and pushing herself back to her console, her ponytail almost flicking her in the face from the sudden movement. She quickly accessed the visual sensors and put them up on the main viewer, getting everyone else's attention. "What are we looking at?" Hernandez asked as Sutton continued to work.

Sutton quickly isolated the village that Maraschino and Tajock were currently in, it was the same one that she'd shown Hernandez footage of when suggesting this. "I think I might've been a bit hasty in suggesting this." She considered, before finally stopping on a section of the village. "Look, they're rebuilding." She stated as she finally stopped typing and looked up herself.

"From what?" Corby asked.

Sutton shrugged and cringed at the same time. "If it had been an earthquake or some other seismic activity our sensors will have picked it up and alerted us." She explained. "My best guess..." She added after a brief pause. "Conflict."

"You send my people into a war zone?" Hernandez demanded.

"Not necessarily. And certainly not intentionally." Sutton objected. "But it explains a lot." She admitted.

Hernandez looked like she could easily kill her science officer right about then, instead she looked back to the screen, and then back to her officers. "Suggestions?"

"They knew when they went down extraction was not guaranteed." Corby added.

"But it wouldn't be impossible to do so. We have an advantage that they don't with our technology, we should be able to move without being seen more easily than they'd normally expect." Sutton countered. "In about another hour or so their sun starts to set - their days are much, much shorter than ours - it will not be impossible to transport down and extract them back to the shuttle. Or at least out and then recover the shuttle in due time." Sutton could've sworn she saw Corby go a few shades paler at the mention of the transporter.

"And if this makes matters worse?" Hernandez asked.

"I hand in my commission in a few hours?" Sutton replied.

"Don't tempt me." Hernandez warned as she flopped back into her chair as she considered her options.

"Well the other option is that we transport a small explosive into the nearby volcano and panic the locals enabling our people to escape in the chaos." Sutton added cheerfully.

"Are there any options that don't involve guns or explosives?" Hernandez asked, looking at both her two remaining senior officers, both of who shook their heads. "Corby, go get your two best men, get Lawson to make you passable and then coordinate with Sutton on how to get in and out with the least amount of attention. Do this right, no shots will be fired." Hernandez ordered.

Maraschino was startled out of her snoozing by a hand on her shoulder, and another that calmly blocked her startled reaction. "It's dark." Tajock stated. They had agreed that they should try and get some rest, and that one should always be awake, as Tajock's vulcan meant that was generally effected less by lack of sleep, it had made more sense for Maraschino to rest first.

Maraschino turned to the small, high up window that had been their light source. As they hadn't given the cafri any trouble they hadn't really been given any trouble themselves. It was as if they were unsure as to treat them as spies or to just keep them out of the way so that nothing was compromised. So far no violence had occurred - bar the man handling - so they hadn't wanted to instigate any, and were wary of the effects on the town if they broke out. But they knew they couldn't stay, they would just have to do it in the least suspicious way possible.

They had been left with only one guard inside the building with them - or at least that room, neither had been given the chance to get an idea of the full building layout - and they had assumed at least one outside. Unless the whole village acted as a guard system... Maraschino was yet again weighing up the option of seducing their guard, before one of his friends called something rather crass from the other side of the door, with received an equally crass reply, followed by a serious question. Their guard stepped outside, originally just sticking his head through the door, but they saw the prickling of attention, something had alerted them. Their guard glanced back at them, before deciding they were the smaller threat, and heading out to join his fellows after closing the door firmly behind him.

Maraschino and Tajock were up in an instant, both leaning to listen, Tajock rather more successfully. "Are we good?" Maraschino all but mouthed at the vulcan.

Tajock didn't get a chance to reply before the door moved again, and both flattened themselves against the wall, Maraschino ready to pounce, Tajock ready to disable with a simple shoulder grip. Tajock was the first to relax. "Lieutenant." He greeted simply, recognising their tactical officer despite the prosthetics.

"Now." Corby stated simply, and neither Maraschino nor Tajock needed any encouragement, pulling the door shut behind them as they followed Corby's lead. Using shadows to enable them to hurry through the streets unseen, pausing behind objects as Corby received instructions about where the cafri were. Rendezvousing with one of his men as he got an update on the other, then hurrying to their exit route. Not the quickest way back to the shuttle, but that was probably deliberate. It wasn't until they got past the edge of town and into country side that anyone dared speak, and even then it was remarkably quietly.

"That was resolved far faster than I expected." Maraschino muttered.

"It's not resolved until we've piloted the shuttle back to the ship, undetected." Tajock corrected.

"Well luckily night currently lasts far longer than day here." Corby explained. "We've got a good chance." He paused. "And I am not using the transporter again." He added firmly.

Maraschino giggled. "Who talked you into that?"

"Sutton." Corby spat. "My suggestion was to leave you to your own devices." He paused again as they checked their surroundings now they could use the scanners a little easier. "I think she felt guilty after not spotting whatever conflict it is that's going on here."

"Civil war." Tajock confirmed.

"Yeah, I am going to kill her for that." Maraschino agreed.

"You might have to join the queue." Corby corrected.

From there it was a relatively easy task to get back to the shuttle, and after ascertaining there were no nearby life forms, getting back to the ship with it was also relatively easy. Even with the added hazard of having to do the first part of it with no visual clues, Maraschino relying entirely on scanners and people reading out other scanner readings. Whilst she was perfectly capable of doing that at warp speeds, there were less things to crash into there.

In Hernandez's ready room Sutton was handing Hernandez her second data-pad for the day. Looking considerably more mollified than previously, in fact Hernandez realised Sutton hadn't looked this worried since she arrived on the ship to discover that her new captain had already seen her 'hideously drunk'; Sutton's words. "The updated protocols for scouting new planets." Sutton explained. "After my failure today I updated them with what we already know, and put in a call to the vulcans so that I can look at theirs and see if there's anything good we've missed."

Hernandez nodded, briefly looking at the data-pad before putting it on her desk and turning back to her science officer. "You might want to be careful, we do need to do some exploring." She teased.

"Our protocols should be sufficient enough to allow us to spot less obvious signs of trouble, especially when that trouble is war." Sutton replied. They had the basics since the team had returned to the shuttle, they'd radioed in once they'd got out of sight of the cafri. The full debriefing would happen when they got back. "On that note, do I want to know how long I'm helping with the recycling teams on cleaning duties?"

Hernandez resisted chuckling. "Nothing that severe, technically you did nothing wrong, you followed the protocols as they are written. You just let your excitement override your common sense." Hernandez replied rather more gently than she had when she realised what had happened to her team. "And since you immediately set to rectifying the situation I see no need to punish you beyond removing a few recreational activities for a week." She paused. "And whatever Maraschino will inflict upon you."

Sutton bit the side of her lip. "I don't suppose a week of solitary confinement is an option? She might be a little less harsh after a week."

"She'd only break in."

"Good point." Sutton agreed. "I'm dead."

* * *

Cinn: Well that took far longer than planned, I swear there aren't enough hours in a day. Or perhaps not enough hours in weekends... Either way, hopefully with hockey season drawing to a close I might have a bit more free time to try and get the few chapters I had originally planned on written.


	4. Liberty

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill.

Cinn: Thanks again for the reviews, I only really had the draft outline for five chapters after the intro (which was essentially a rewrite of Affliction and Divergence). I might do more, which would probably start getting into the proper historical ST universe stuff - I think the romulan wars properly start in 2156 which is like a year after the end of ENT S4.

* * *

Normally after a week of successful stress testing Lieutenant Commander Nukunda would be rather more relaxed than he was right now. Having arrived in the Tellarite system they had rigorously tested and retuned the _Columbia's_ systems, and they believed they had eliminated their teething troubles. Now they were subject to whatever damage or improvements they came across as their travels took them. After such a week Captain Hernandez had decided to swing them some liberty on Tellar Prime, giving them a chance to explore the culture of one of their emerging allies.

However Nukunda was down in one of the cargo bays with Lieutenant Commander Sutton and Lieutenant Corby, the former of which was daring the latter to shoot at her with a phaser. "Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"Totally." Corby replied confidently.

"You wish." Sutton retorted, her attention turning back to the scanner in her hand. "Seriously, the readings look normal." She paused. "Besides, it's only on stun." She paused again. "It better be." She added, finally looking up again, half glaring at Corby through the force field that separated them.

"I think that's the first time I've heard doubt." Nukunda observed, looking at his own read outs, they had been over the design a dozen times, sending messages between Lieutenant Reed on the _Enterprise_ about the tests he'd also run on force field technology. The prototype they'd rigged up in the cargo bay was the most powerful force field technology Nukunda had come across for it's size. That wasn't necessarily reassuring him at this point. Not when Sutton decided that she'd make a better target than a traditional bullseye.

So after another thumbs up from Sutton, Corby took aim, and fired. Seconds later Sutton ducked out of the way as their prototype sparked quite violently as the phaser pulse hit the force field it was generating. Both men scrambled towards the scientist as she pushed herself back up. "Are you all right?" Nukunda asked.

"Yes." Sutton nodded, hurrying back over to the prototype as the other two shared a look - nothing deterred her. "It held." She stated, as she deactivated it before it did any serious damage to anyone.

"But what happened?" Corby asked, as Nukunda joined Sutton but scanning the equipment as she reviewed the recorded data.

"There's massive burnouts throughout the system." Nukunda reported, closing his scanner and leaning over Sutton's shoulder as she filtered through the data.

"There." Sutton identified. "The inverter couplings look like they overloaded." She added, bringing up the replay of both the video and isolating that part of the recorded system data and freezing at the correct part.

Nukunda frowned in confusion. "Those components are spec'ed well above the capacity they should have experienced during that test." He stated.

Sutton shrugged as the three of them shared a look. "Feedback loop?"

"Aren't you nerds supposed to have isolated these things before testing?" Corby asked.

"That's the thing with revolutionary tech, it tends to be unpredictable otherwise someone else would already have solved it." Sutton replied. "I've seen reports before of redirecting the energy into useful applications. We should be able to reroute for it."

"So long as we can get new parts." Nukunda corrected. "We only used these ones because they're no longer approved parts for the NX class."

"Well, we're docking at Tellar Prime by the end of the day. So hopefully we can get some there." Sutton decided, as they started to pack up their kit. "In the meantime I'll send the data off to Reed and various other specialists." Both men nodded before they set to their usual duties after cleaning up the cargo bay.

They had established their orbit of Tellar Prime by the end of that day, they had managed to secure some time in a space dock for the following day for a quick supply run and what Sutton kept referring to as a 'service', though Nukunda frequently pointed out a spaceship was not a car. Sutton appeared unrepentant.

However the deal had involved Hernandez agreeing to give a diplomatic entourage of Tellarites around the _Columbia_. That meant Sutton had to stay aboard until they were done, she was technically still in the dog house about the cafri, and could cover both the labs and medical bay - to the level diplomats would need. As did Nukunda as he could cover engineering and the armoury as required. Everyone else was free to take some liberty as their schedules allowed.

The following morning saw almost an exodus of the _Columbia's_ crew, as was to be expected on liberty. A schedule had been drawn up for a skeleton crew rotation so everyone got time to relax and explore. However Hernandez, Sutton and Nukunda were waiting just outside the shuttle bay, waiting to greet the delegates. Hernandez and Nukunda both looked perfectly respectable in their dress uniforms, Sutton looked less than comfortable, though Hernandez had to admit that it was the smartest she'd ever seen her science officer. The captain was just about to tell her to stop slouching when Tajock came over the intercom asking for Sutton, who instantly pushed herself off the wall she was leaning on and stepped up to a comm point. "Yes, Tarquin?" She asked.

"We appear to have a situation in lab 2, apparently one of spectrometers is on - and I quote - 'the fritz'." Came the reply, and Sutton looked to Hernandez, who nodded. Sutton hurried off promising to have it all fixed in time for the tellarites arrival and that she'd meet them at the labs.

It wasn't long before the tellarites arrived. "Welcome aboard the _NX-02 Columbia_." Hernandez greeted. "I'm Captain Hernandez, and this is my chief engineer Lieutenant Commander Nukunda."

The tellarites regarded them for a moment, before the one at the front of the group coughed. "I am ambassador Skerev." He introduced himself, before introducing the rest of the group, all of them were significant politicians from the planet. Hernandez was about to thank them for the interest but he started talking again. "Quite frankly I don't see the appeal. Your ship is too cold, your shuttle bay is inefficient and the controls are too high up."

Hernandez briefly shared a look with Nukunda. Sutton and Tajock hadn't been kidding when they'd said to expect complaints, tellarites considered it rude not to complain upon arrival, and debate was a sport to them. "I will see what I can do to rectify that." Hernandez agreed politely. "Please, follow me." She added, indicating their way.

The tour around the engineering department was relatively uneventful, as they quickly grew accustomed to the derogatory comments and general complaints from the tellarite delegation. Nukunda was able to fend them off relatively efficiently and politely, with Hernandez stepping in as appropriate. They met up with Sutton in the labs again, at which point Hernandez introduced her science officer. Skerev snorted. "You call these laboratories? Our schools have more equipment than this."

"And it's probably thirty years out of date." Sutton retorted, just fast enough for Hernandez not to be able to get in first. Hernandez's poker-face was good, but her eyes displayed her horror.

"You dare-"

"Quantity is not a substitute for quality." Sutton added firmly.

Skerev eyed Sutton for a moment before laughing. "You've got fire, something these two lack." He declared. Hernandez almost breathed a sigh of relief as Sutton briefly explained what went on in their labs, reiterating their mission of exploration and understanding. Once that was done they were to head to the captain's mess for lunch which would be the end of the official visit. Now that they'd seen the tellarites react favourably to a bit of bite, Hernandez and Nukunda were less worried about offending their guests over lunch.

As it transpired the tellarites had little interesting in staying any longer, and left relatively promptly with a list of 'recommended improvements' for them. Once they'd left Hernandez dismissed Sutton and Nukunda allowing them to take their own liberty.

Meanwhile on Tellar Prime Dr Lawson had gone to see an old friend. One of the advantages of the medical profession was interstellar medical conferences, so it was far easier to make extraterrestrial friends than in some of the other branches, as interspecies cooperation was generally good for medicine. Many species wanted to keep their technological and military assets secret, but sharing their medical advances benefited them more than secrecy - usually.

They exchanged all the usual pleasantries, catching up on familial events and important events over food and drink at Gaarv's home. "So now we've caught up, how about a challenge?"

Lawson narrowed his eyes as he paused in raising his tea to drink. "What kind of challenge?"

"Once we are finished eating, I will take you to the lab." Gaarv decided.

"Is this just so you can tell me I'm not as clever as you, again?" Lawson teased. Gaarv chuckled.

It didn't take them long to get to the medical facility at which Gaarv worked, and Lawson had to try not to chuckle at all the complaining patients, he couldn't help but feel sorry for any support staff on Tellar Prime, then remember most of them would be equally sassy tellarites. They would be able to handle it, and he made a mental note to never get sick in front of tellarites. Gaarv led him to the lab section rather than the in-patients, eventually stopping at a work station Lawson had to assume was his, indicating to his friend to take a look at the samples.

Lawson eyed his friend warily before turning and crouching awkwardly to get the best view in the microscope, before turning to the display panels. "The symptoms look like flu, but I can't see any infection."

"That's the problem we've had." Gaarv agreed, though rather dismissively, as if Lawson should have already had the same though progression as them in the small time frame. "It doesn't appear to be communicable, but we haven't found a cause yet."

"Do the patients recover?"

"Given enough time." Gaarv explained. "Our medication relieves the symptoms." He paused. "Though I'm more concerned about finding the cause so that it doesn't get any resistance to the medication. Got any good ideas for once?"

Lawson spared his friend a glare. "I assume you've already run an interspecies comparison?"

"You would have access to such databases?" Gaarv asked, not sure if he were embarrassed or sheepish. The thought had never occurred to him, because they didn't have access to the records that would have allowed them to do that.

"You do such a good job of endearing yourselves to the rest of the galaxy, you do realise that?" Lawson teased, as he established a link with the _Columbia_ to allow them to search through the databases. It was temporary, but it would give them what they needed.

Down in one of the many marketplaces Maraschino was sat with a drink people watching as she waited. She had never visited Tellar Prime before, and tellarites were interesting people, on the surface their cultures were similar, but the more she observed the more differences she found. It intrigued her. "Hey, Dark Cherry!" A cheerful call came as it's owner approached her table, distracting her from the argument that she was becoming convinced was a courting ritual.

Maraschino didn't know whether to glower or grin, instead she got up, punched him and then hugged him as they both chuckled. "Harry." She greeted, rocking back down from her tiptoes, and they both took seats. "Long time no see." She added, as he ordered a drink. "What's up?"

Harry passed a hand through his dark red hair, before leaning forward, sliding a data-pad towards her before leaning on his elbows as she toyed with taking it. "There's a message for you." He explained, smiling charmingly as his drink arrived. "From home." He added.

Maraschino nodded to herself. "Private?"

"I hear it's very intimate." Maraschino might not have glowered, but she had perfected a glare that didn't involve her actually glaring, but often made recipients think twice about their course of action. "Thanks for the drink." He added, finishing it and standing to leave.

"Don't you still owe me a drink?" Maraschino retorted, watching him go, before her gaze flicked back to the data-pad still on the table in front of her. Looking up again as she noticed how busy the area was, it was easy to spot her fellow crew-mates, even accounting for the trade and civilian crews on Tellar Prime.

And it wasn't just because Corby and Nukunda were arguing over the exact specs for a part they were trying to procure. Or more rather Corby was arguing that Sutton's spec was wrong and Nukunda was 'respectfully disagreeing' and that he was willing to risk it. Sutton might be crazy, but she also knew what she was doing. Corby admitted that wasn't any more reassuring. Nukunda chuckled as he got it anyway. "Come on, we only have a couple more pieces and then we can enjoy this place." The engineer added. "I need to get pictures, I never thought the tellarites would build with beauty."

"You're almost crazier than she is." Corby joked as they headed to the next place.

All the while Doctor Lawson was able to take advantage of the time the computer needed to search the databases he'd requested, mostly by catching up with his friend and learning a few new insults along the way. Though he was starting to think he might get less back talk if he instigated a tellarite bedside manner.

"Nothing." Lawson sighed dejectedly. "The nearest match is a thorian fungal infection." Gaarv looked to be about to ask if there could be a cross over before Lawson spoke again. "What about blood work? Genetic typing?"

Gaarv almost - almost - looked sheepish. "We haven't been able to process it yet. There have been more urgent samples and investigations to complete, and we're only a small hospital."

"Do you want me to take the samples to process?" Lawson asked.

Gaarv agreed, as gratefully as a tellarite could - Lawson didn't judge their ways, he knew that whilst it didn't sound grateful by human standards, for a tellarite it was - and Lawson took a sample of a selection of Gaarv's patient samples to take back with him and to process through the med bay overnight. Most of his equipment was automated, but every department had a night shift and they could keep an eye on it if necessary.

He hadn't known what to expect the following morning, but he wasn't sure it was what he got. "Saf." Sutton stated simply. Lawson had called her in for additional expertise as he hadn't recognised the compound.

"Saf?" He questioned.

"It's an illegal andorian drug. Scientifically it's a relatively simply phsyco-active drug, in andorians it causes hallucenations and euphoria." Sutton explained. "From a social aspect it's damn irresponsible."

Lawson actually did a double take at the scientist sitting at his desk. "That's not the kind of attitude I've come to expect from you."

Sutton shrugged. "I've seen drugs destroy too many lives, I'm biased, sorry." She didn't sound particularly sorry. However, she also knew when moral grand-standing was unnecessary and unhelpful. "More to the point, how did it get to Tellar Prime?"

"Who knows." Lawson sighed, rubbing his face. "I'm more concerned they're taking it even though it's making them ill. And why does it make the tellarites ill but not the andorians?"

"You're the doctor." Sutton teased. "Maybe there's a reason that the andorian word for delerium and the tellarite word for fever are the same?"

"How do you even know that?" Lawson asked. Sutton shrugged innocently. They both turned as the monitor at his desk beeped. "Mind if I get that?" Lawson asked, Sutton smiled and him and nodded.

"Give us a shout if you need anything else." She stated as she left to go back to the bridge.

Lawson grinned as he sat down to take the call. "Daddy!" The little girl on the screen shouted happily as the monitor blinked into life.

"Hi sweetie." Lawson greeted, fully cheered up by the sight of his family. "Look at you all dressed up for school!"

"Look at the A I got!" Mia beamed holding up her beginning of term test paper. "Mummy says I'm going to be the smartest girl in the class!"

"Not if you spend all day talking to your father and miss school!" Her mother teased just out of shot, prompting a round of giggles. "Doesn't she look so grown up?" She asked, coming into view as she hugged her daughter.

Lawson smiled, it was bittersweet, but still full of joy. "She'll be in charge by the time I get back."

"When are you coming home, daddy?"

"Soon, honey, soon." Lawson replied, not letting his pokerface drop to let on he wasn't actually sure. "Now I've got to get back to work or you're going to get me in trouble. And you're going to miss school, and then you'll be in bother missy." He teased.

"We love you, daddy!"

"I love you both too." He replied, as she hit the button to end the call, the medical bay seeming oddly silent despite the machines and people still whirring.

By the time lunchtime rolled about he was seeking a certain table. "This seat taken?" He asked.

Sub-altern Tajock looked up. "No, doctor. Please." He added politely.

"Thank you." Lawson replied, taking a seat and tucking in, he was hungry. "So, I have a question." He started after finishing a few mouthfuls.

Tajock raised an eyebrow. "And what kind of question makes me the prime candidate to answer?"

"Philosphy and morality?"

"I am not a philosopher."

Lawson chuckled around another mouthful of food. "Don't give me that. You're vulcan, and I know you're one of the oldest on this crew, that gives you the most life experience."

"That is privileged information."

"I'm your doctor, I have access to your medical records." Lawson corrected with an innocent grin. He had no intention of giving that information out, but it meant that he was right, Tajock had a lot more life experience than most on the ship. Tajock gave him that typical vulcan stare as if to ask him to get to the point. "If someone is inflicting damage upon themselves, is it morally right to treat the symptoms but not the cause?"

"As a doctor you are obliged to treat anyone."

"That's not what I'm arguing." Lawson corrected. "I will treat anyone in my capacity to treat, regardless of who they are or what they have done. No questions asked." He paused. "But if you don't treat the cause, when you can, but just treat the symptoms is that wrong?"

"Why wouldn't you treat the cause?"

"Because that involves the patient changing - against their wishes."

"Then the only way you can meet your obligations is to treat the symptoms." Tajock replied as if it were simple. And logically, it was. "You cannot take away a sentient's right to chose, so long as they are old and well enough to understand what they are doing."

Lawson nodded, that also made sense. But he wasn't sure he agreed. "But how can I let them continue to let them hurt themselves? Am I not obliged to stop that?"

"No."

"But-"

"You cannot control people." It was such a simple statement that took Lawson completely by surprise, he hadn't thought of it that way at all.

"Then what are laws for?" He challenged.

Tajock almost glared at him. "Despite the fact that I know you knew what I meant - laws are there to protect people from other people and to build a society to the benefit of all. Usually. Controlling individual choices certain people make is not the same."

"I can't leave them to continue harming themselves..." Lawson argued. "It goes against everything doctors are supposed to do."

"Yet here you are, questioning whether or not you have the right to do that." Tajock pointed out, and Lawson almost deflated in defeat. "Right choices are not always easy."

"I hate it when you're right." Lawson muttered as he turned back to his food.

"Only because it means you are wrong." Tajock replied, and if he were human Lawson would have described it as a perfect deadpan. Lawson grinned as he turned the conversation back to more mundane matters.

Meanwhile down in the cargo bay Corby and Nukunda were making repairs to their force field array. A couple of the crewmen that manned the cargo bay were giving them wary looks, clearly remembering the last testing they did on it. Despite their adventurous few months the crew clearly hadn't got used to explosions and sparks coming off the equipment. "And I think we're done." Nukunda decided, as he surveyed their work. "Just Sutton's new calculations."

"What are they really going to tell us?" Corby asked. "Why not just test it now?"

"You really want to go there?" Nukunda asked. "Not only will she kill you, but fully calibrating the system before we test it will lower the risk of us overloading it, again."

"And testing it will give us real, practical information on the optimum system." Corby argued. "We went through all the maths last time and it didn't actually help."

Nukunda sighed. "All right, if you want to risk it, I'm not going to stop you. But if you break it, I'm not taking responsibility, it's on you to explain it to her." He decided. "I'm also going to point and laugh."

Corby figured that was fair, as he set to setting the device up for more testing. This time no one would be stood the other side of it daring him to fire on it. As innately annoying as Sutton could be, she did at least make things... interesting. It didn't take him long to have it prepared, and he took aim.

Nukunda was hardly surprised that the result was another round of sparks flying, before the force field died. At least this time and there wasn't anyone stood far too close to it having to duck for cover. "Do you want me to say it, or shall I let her do it?" He teased, as Corby went to retrieve the sensor data. Nukunda was relieved that this time his scanner wasn't showing any equipment damage, though they wouldn't know for sure until Corby had done a full diagnostic. Nukunda had decided he was not touching it whilst there was still a risk Sutton would kill the pair of them.

"Oh, please do, I have far stronger words for him." Sutton interrupted, causing both men to turn sharply to where she stood not far from the entrance way. Both had the decency to look sheepish. "Why?" She asked simply.

"I didn't do anything." Nukunda objected.

"You let him, and you're the responsible adult." Sutton corrected.

"That's one way of saying 'outranks'." Corby muttered. Nukunda glared at him. "Look, we just wanted to get some real data, and we haven't killed the system. What's the harm?"

Sutton raised an eyebrow. "And if you had broken the system?"

"We buy new parts, again?"

"Isn't that rather inefficient and wasteful?"

"Maybe, look, we didn't-"

Sutton just held up her hands as if ordering him to stop. "Next time, just let me finish the maths first." She stated after taking a deep breath. "Or I'll throw you in the brig, adding a day each time you do something this daft." Then she handed Nukunda a data-pad. "Here, these are the optimal parameters I calculated, lets set this back up, test these and then I'll take both sets of data to further optimise."

Even Corby had to admit that that made too much sense to argue with, and he was rather surprised she wasn't throwing him in the brig - or certainly out of the room - for messing with the kit when she'd explicitly told them to wait for her to finish. There were no sparks when they tested it with her adjustments, and whilst it did hold, they registered a major drop in both stability and strength - but it was a start.

Back on Tellar Prime doctor Lawson had gone back to Gaarv. "What am I looking at?" He asked, taking the data-pad Lawson handed him. "You've found me a cure all ready? What's the problem then?"

"It's not a cure." Lawson sighed. "It will treat the symptoms however." He paused as Gaarv looked at him in a way that Lawson knew to be quizzical. "The problem isn't a disease, it's a drug."

"What drug?" Gaarv asked.

"Does it matter?" Lawson asked. "They're patients all the same."

Gaarv snorted. "I'm not asking to discriminate, I'm asking so I know what to look for during a tox-screen."

Lawson blinked in surprise, that he had not expected. "It's an andorian drug called saf."

Gaarv nodded. "Thank you, doctor Lawson, you've been a big help."

"I didn't mean to cause offence."

"You've got to try harder than that, doctor." Gaarv snorted. Lawson smiled, relieved.

"Well, it'll have to wait, my ship is due to depart in a couple of hours." Lawson explained. "And no, the last time you tried to convince me to spend my last couple of hours with you I missed my transport."

Gaarv chuckled. "It was fun though."


	5. Communication

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill.

Cinn: It's been a while... I'd like to say this chapter is a bit longer to make up for the wait, but I'm not that good at thinking things through.

The original plan for this fic was an extra five chapters after the ENT episodes I covered in the intro. But now I've worked out an outline to the finale it's looking like it might be quite a bit longer than that.

Thanks to everyone who's still reading and enjoying this, I appreciate it and your thoughts.

* * *

"Remind me why a scientist needs to shoot so well?" Maraschino asked as she watched Sutton's target practise. They were taking turns on the training droid for their morning training today.

"Says the helmsman who could outfight our tactical officer." Sutton retorted. "My excuse is that field trips rarely go to plan."

"And I'm usually driving the truck."

Sutton shook her head as she tried not to giggle as she finished her go, stepping aside to let Maraschino have at the program to try and beat her score. The two had become fast friends during the _Columbia's_ mission so far, often training together and sharing meal times. They had also gained a friendly rivalry when it came to the training, whilst Sutton couldn't compete when it came to physical fitness, she was capable of holding her own in the spars and shooting, which Maraschino took as a challenge.

By the time that they had arrived at the bridge they were coming up on their latest planet to investigate, Maraschino arriving in time to pilot them into orbit in the area Sutton had flagged as potentially interesting. "So what have we got?" Hernandez asked, stepping in front of the science station as Sutton turned to her scope, her long hair now braided into a halo around her head.

There was a brief pause as Sutton confirmed her readings. "Class O planet, 85% ocean covering, scattered islands and volcanoes making up the rest. Multiple aquatic life form readings, a few potential avian." Sutton reported, turning back to the rest of the bridge. "And I believe I have confirmed the presence of ruins beneath the water's surface."

"Under water ruins - wouldn't the sea have eroded them?" Corby asked.

Sutton nodded. "It does usually have that effect." She agreed. "However the salinity here is lower than earth, and it's not an instantaneous effect, we might have simply got lucky in that we arrived whilst there was still something to see."

"So while it's there to see, let's explore." Hernandez agreed, with the usual excited tone creeping in. It was never overt, but it was there enough for the crew to sense and to become excited about the prospect as well. "Maraschino, as we're putting the shuttles through unusual paces I want you on board." She decided, and Maraschino nodded once.

"I've taken the liberty of putting Ensign Perdue on stand by, he's got years of experience in aquatic environments. Research rather than exploration, but it's more than any of the rest of the crew. Working underwater is a unique challenge." Sutton explained.

Hernandez nodded, whilst she often took Sutton as chief scientist, deferring to those with different and more suited expertise was frequent too. "Any indication of how hostile an environment we are facing?"

Sutton pulled the face that the entire crew were familiar with, it meant 'I have no idea, but as you need an answer I'll speculate'. "I'm not sure I can quantify that." She admitted. "There is an abundance of aquatic life, but I'm not detecting any technology. However some of those lifeforms do appear to be quite large. However at this distance we can't distinguish between large swarms, whales or sharks." She explained. "Best advice I can give is proceed with caution, we have many unknowns and you won't be able to breathe if your suits are damaged."

"Corby, assign a security crewman to join us." Hernandez decided. "A team of four nicely fits the shuttle." She paused as she realised what Corby was about to do. "No, lieutenant, I want you here. We're too close to the edge of romulan space, I want you aboard just in case." Corby nodded. "You're in charge, Tajock. Keep them in line."

"Yes, ma'am." Tajock agreed automatically. Even he wasn't sure it was possible to keep their tactical and science officers 'in line'.

Preparations for shuttle launch and away missions were quite efficient by now, and it wasn't long before they were away, with Hernandez and Maraschino as pilot and copilot, whilst Perdue tied in his instruments with the _Columbia's_ main instrumentation, allowing more detailed and precise measurements to be taken. "Connection established." Sutton came in over the comm. "The equipment is tied in and we'll be monitoring your signals from here. Have fun."

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Lieutenant Machu asked, double checking the phasers he had packed before he handed them out. "Shuttles are designed for space, not water."

"Anything the Enterprise can do, we can do too." Hernandez replied calmly.

"I'm not sure it's a competition, Captain." Maraschino chuckled.

"We're explorers, pushing the boundaries is what we do." Hernandez corrected.

Maraschino spared her captain an unconvinced look. "Entering atmosphere, ten minutes till water contact." She added.

"Nice and easy, and we shouldn't have any problems." Hernandez agreed.

~-x-~

Back on the bridge they were monitoring the shuttle's progress remotely. Sutton counting down their progress to the surface of the vast ocean, as they all knew that the biggest risk they could predict was the shuttle entering the water. Once that was done they would likely return to their normal duties. The ensign who had replaced Tajock at the comm was also monitoring, ready to send the back up shuttle they had standing by for extraction. "Contact." Sutton announced as she watched the shuttle reach the water.

There was a moment in which the entire bridge seemed to hold it's breath. "Systems operating normally, no leaks detected, we look good." Hernandez reported in. "Next check in is in an hour."

"Confirmed." Tajock agreed. "One hour."

"Who wants to bet they forget?" Corby joked.

"On the basis that Cap'n hasn't forgotten a check in yet, I'll take that bet." Sutton chimed in. Tajock raised his eyebrow at the pair of them, deciding that for now he didn't need to tell them off, but to keep at eye on them.

~-x-~

Progress in the shuttle was slow and steady, as they had planned. Their entry point wasn't far from the area Sutton had highlighted, but they had wanted enough distance not to damage anything in the event of the shuttle reacting unpredictably. "Approaching area of interest." Maraschino reported, turning slightly in her chair so that the rest of the crew could hear her.

Hernandez returned to her pilots seat in her diving suit. "Wow, just look at that." She added, as the view of the underwater ruined city came into view. It looked like how Hernandez had always imagined Atlantis would look like, if it had been abandoned for a millennium or two. Tall crumbling structures that looked like they'd been bleached white by sun when it had been above water. Though there were long streaks of colour where long strands of seaweed had started growing, plumes starting anywhere on the building or ground, all different shades. It gave it an eerie, inhabited look.

Maraschino got up to find her own diving suit as Perdue and Machu finished their preparations. Machu handed out weapons once Maraschino was finished. "Phasers for land, the pistols for underwater use - they carry five bolts each, that's five shots. Don't waste them."

"Range?" Maraschino asked.

"Low as you can without being eaten." Machu replied, and Maraschino nodded in understanding, taking her seat again.

"Let's see where we can set down then." Hernandez decided. "We're in a tropical climate so the water is warm, but even so everyone keep an eye on their stats and tanks, standard EV practice."

As the crew gave their affirmatives Maraschino spotted a ledge that was stable and large enough for their shuttle. "And now it's time to make Nukunda hate all of us." Maraschino quipped once they had landed. "Is there really no better way than flooding the shuttle?"

"Unfortunately not, the entire compartment acts as the airlock." Hernandez explained. "So buckle everything down, we'll empty it once we're done and resurface."

Perdue and Machu had already packed up most of the equipment that wasn't being carried, so it didn't take them long to finish up and affix their helmets. "Comm check." Maraschino added, first to finish, first to instigate protocol. Comm, tank and equipment checks didn't take long, and then Hernandez started the airlock sequence. When Machu joked about playing eye-spy Maraschino barely had to raise her eyebrow for his smile to all but evaporate. Hernandez resisted smiling. " _Columbia_ , this is Hernandez, airlock sequence complete, we're heading out." She called in as they released the door and started making their way towards the ruins.

" _Columbia_ reads you loud and clear." Tajock replied over the comm, quickly looking to Sutton who checked that she had the readings from the transponders on the suits, she nodded. "We expect to hear from you in an hour, Captain. _Columbia_ out."

"He could've wished us good luck." Perdue joked.

"He's vulcan, there is no luck, only logic." Machu added, swimming behind, keeping an eye on their backs.

"Isn't your statement illogical?" Maraschino asked, not looking, but instead scanning the creatures she'd spotted to one side of their small group.

"It was a joke, ma'am."

Maraschino shook her head before following Hernandez down, prompting the two men to follow them towards the lower part of the ruins. As they drew nearer they paused to take in the sheer scale of what they were facing, they realised that this was once an entire city, not just a small settlement. Maraschino and Hernandez shared a look of awed astonishment as they took it all in. "These ruins are ancient, older than the ancient Greek civilisation back on earth."

"How can you tell that?" Maraschino asked, turning to face Perdue, and almost forgetting to tread water.

"Atoms date the same on any planet, aside from epic disasters the rate doesn't really change. And if we use earth as a baseline - which has seen a few - then we have a fairly good idea, as we're likely to be underestimating age rather than over estimating." Perdue tried to explain. "If they had more disasters then the atmosphere would likely still be showing the effects."

"So I'm guessing we need to be careful the closer we get, that long underwater probably means they're unstable."

"Yes, ma'am." Perdue agreed. "The incredible thing is that I'm reading signs of ancient technology among the ruins, long since inactive, but present."

"An ancient technological civilisation?" Maraschino asked. "What happened to them?"

"There's only one way to find out." Hernandez replied, twisting to swim further towards the ruins, into deeper water. The water was quite clear, Hernandez wasn't sure if that was due to the tropical nature or it depended more on the wider environment, she made a note to find out when they returned to the ship.

For now, however, they had scans to take and exploring to do. Hernandez wasn't sure if being underwater made the ruins feel more or less haunted and dilapidated than they would have been above ground. The water made it feel eerie, but the wildlife made it feel lived in. Machu was responsible for checking for dangerous wildlife and other hazards. Hernandez was helping Perdue taking measurements, samples and notes. Maraschino was helping both.

"Maraschino to _Columbia_ , this is our hourly check in, please respond."

"Commander Maraschino this is _Columbia_ , we're receiving your signal, please confirm current situation." Ensign Barnes replied.

"All crew members in sight, perimeter currently secure, scientists distracted by samples." Maraschino added.

"I heard that." Sutton piped in, Maraschino grinned.

"Talk to you in an hour." Maraschino signed off, twisting to sign to Machu who indicated everything was good, before diving to swim down to meet Hernandez and Perdue near the base of one of the ruined buildings.

"This place is incredible." Hernandez commented as she saw Maraschino join them, and brushed away some of the sand from the wall to better see the runes that were engraved along it's surface.

"Can we translate it?" Maraschino asked, though she imagined that this particular sign was just advertising baked goods or the postal address, but being able translate them might reveal far more interesting things later on.

"Perdue is feeding it back to _Columbia_ , Tajock said he had some tricks up his sleeve if we get him enough samples."

" **Tajock** said he had tricks up his sleeve?" Maraschino checked, wondering if maybe they needed to worry that the vulcan had been among humans too long.

Hernandez chuckled. "Paraphrasing." She admitted, that made more sense. Both women turned a moment later when Perdue shouted for his captain. "What've you got Ensign?" Hernandez asked as they swam the short distance to join him.

Perdue was focused on his scanner as they joined him, and pointed in the direction he was looking. "I'm reading a significant power source in that direction." He explained. Hernandez swam to take a look at his readings, Maraschino dived to the floor and brushed away the sand by his feet. "Power cables." Perdue realised as they all saw what was under the sand.

"But for who?" Maraschino asked. "Apart from the fish we've detected few life signs, none of which look to indicate any remaining civilisation."

"There's only one way to find out." Hernandez decided, opening her comm to call in Machu if they were going to move on. "Machu, can you rendezvous with us? We've found something to investigate." She stated, waiting for his inevitable reply, but received nothing but silence. "Lieutenant Machu, confirm position." She ordered instead.

Maraschino had already got her own scanner out and the underwater pistol that Machu had given her. "I can't read him." She admitted, swimming up slightly to try and get a lock on him, but failing.

"There's something moving-" Perdue started, before being cut off as something barrelled into him. Hernandez twisted sharply to see what had hit him before something else knocked her to the sea floor. Maraschino had just enough time to raise her pistol, fire a bolt far too wide before a fast blur knocked into her.

~-x-~

Meanwhile on the _Columbia_ 's bridge Tajock had been offering assistance to Ensign Barnes on translating the runes that they'd been receiving from the away team. Translation algorithms were his speciality, it was only logical that he offer advice and teach the young Ensign. "Subaltern, I'm reading another ship entering the system." Sutton cut in, a few people on the bridge were a little surprised she used his rank - she had nicknamed him Tarquin - but they were on duty and she was mostly professional on duty.

"Romulan?" Tajock asked, turning to her console rather than comms.

Sutton shook her head. "I don't recognise it's design. But I think I can build a visual."

"On screen." Tajock decided as Corby mouthed the word 'build' in confusion, returning to the captain's chair as Sutton worked. The vulcan didn't decide to ask what particular bit of technological wizardry she pulled off to get a visual scan around obstacles before seeing the result. The result was a decent schematic build out of the ship's sensors that didn't rely on direct line of sight. It wasn't as good as a visual, but it was definitely good enough.

"If we had access to the vulcan database-" Corby started as they all looked.

"We do." Sutton corrected. "Tarquin's brain."

"You over-estimate me, Lieutenant Commander, I don't recognise that class of ship." Tajock admitted. She was right, however, he was their access to the vulcan ship database.

An unhappy silence filled the bridge as Sutton span her chair to look into her scope. "Then I'll speculate." She decided. "Based on the size, propulsion and weapons distribution, it appears to be an armoured scout vessel. Maybe an advance vanguard?"

"So trouble?" Corby asked.

"Go to tactical alert." Tajock decided. "Helm, keep the planet between us where possible, but within communications range of the away team. Limit their chances of detecting us."

"Shall I raise the away team?" Barnes asked.

Tajock considered this. "Not yet. We don't know they are hostile yet, let's not jump to conclusions."

"Says the man who just ordered tactical alert." Sutton muttered, well aware that Tajock could hear her with his superior hearing, but that no one else would. Tajock didn't even react, she was right, but they both knew that worrying the away team at this point was unnecessary.

"Lieutenant, please study the scans of the ship, I want to keep all our options open." Tajock decided instead.

~-x-~

Hernandez felt like her head was going to split in two. She groaned as she moved to put her hand to it, only to be blocked by her environmental diving suit. Instead she moved to sit up, slowly, carefully and check on her surroundings.

She saw three other diving suits near her, and as she looked around she presumed she was in some sort of cave, but as she'd sat up she'd come above the surface of the water. She checked her suit and found that she still had her scanner to be able to check the composition of the air. She needed to conserve the air in her suit where she could. She was relieved to find that the air in here was the same as on the surface, and breathable, if a little more oxygen rich than humans were used too. She put her scanner away before disconnecting her helmet, which automatically stopped her air tank pumping.

As she took a breath of the strange air she realised she was being watched, and she turned to look at the creature that was watching her. It was partly submerged in the shallow waters, but it reminded her of a reptile, but with an extra pair of eyes, and it's head was similar in shape to triceratops skeletons she'd seen in museums, but with an additional fringe of horns at the back. The limbs she could see were lined with bony protrusions which supported intermittent webbing. If it had scales they were smoothed to the point where they couldn't be easily made out, and the hue looked like it had been exposed to sun in it's past, but with patches of luminescent colour reminiscent of tropical fish on earth. Hernandez reached for her scanner again, watching as it blinked at her and she noticed it's eyes closed sideways, and she aimed it at the creature. The effect was instantaneous as it reeled away from where it had been and reached towards what looked rather like a spear-gun with long, taloned fingers. Hernandez retracted the scanner. "No, it's harmless!" She tried to explain, before realising it couldn't understand her.

The creature had turned back to her, with the weapon in one of it's hands, but it hadn't raised it. It was looking at her curiously now she wasn't pointing anything at it, before lowering itself back into the water as it had been sitting before. Hernandez wasn't a xenobiologist by any stretch of the imagination, but given that the creature appeared to have legs with the same bony protrusions and webbing as it's arms, she would bet that the species had once been land-faring. It also wore a clingy tunic tied in such a way that it looked like a short, baggy, flimsy wetsuit. She turned the scanner to face her own body, and turned it back on. "See, it's harmless." She explained as calmly as she could, hoping it could understand her intent if not her exact words.

The creature didn't say or do anything further, but continued to regard her curiously as Hernandez weighed up the pros and cons of making another attempt to scan it. Before she'd made her decision she heard movement from next to her, and she turned as one of her team started to wake up.

Perdue sat up slowly, and carefully, clearly not used to the more adventurous nature of being part of Starfleet. Hernandez ran her scanner over him as he saw that she'd taken her own helmet off, and followed suit. Hernandez had just finished telling him he was fine other than bruises when he froze. "Captain..." He started, staring behind her at the creature that was still observing them curiously.

"I know." She assured him calmly. "No sudden moves, and we'll be fine. It only reached for it's weapon when I tried to scan it. I don't think it realised it wasn't a weapon."

Perdue nodded, not having taken his eyes off the creature yet. Hernandez tried not to look too amused at his reaction. She remembered her own reaction to the unfamiliar and unknown in the early days of her career. Then she heard a movement in the water and turned to see that the creature had shuffled closer to them, it was staring at her scanner, and slowly held out a hand towards it. It didn't take, but held it's hand open hear it, clearly requesting to look at it. "Does yours still work?" Hernandez asked, Perdue quickly checked his and nodded. Hernandez carefully gave her scanner to their new friend.

The creature shuffled away from them again once it had it's new toy, turning it over in it's hands as it tried to learn how to use the device. As it poked and prodded and turned Hernandez had Perdue try to work on their comm units to try and get the translator working. Perdue asked how that would help when it hadn't said a single thing to them, and after a moment of thought they decided that if they had it cycling known translations whilst they talked maybe it would figure out what they were trying to do and talk to them to help.

It hadn't, it had ignored them in favour of the scanner as another of the suits sat up. Maraschino was more prompt about it, and a lot more jumpy as she looked around to establish her whereabouts before removing her helmet. "How long was I out?" She asked.

"About ten minutes longer than us." Hernandez replied as Perdue checked her over now she was awake. Same story, bruised but otherwise okay.

"And our friend?" Maraschino asked.

"Occupied with my scanner, so far it hasn't threatened us."

"What does kidnapping count as?" Maraschino retorted, a bit snappier than usual due to the headache she'd acquired by being knocked out.

"I think it's to be expected when we trespass." Hernandez figured, and Maraschino had to concede that one.

"So how do we clear this up and get home?" Maraschino asked instead, she'd already clocked Perdue poking around at the comm unit, that meant that they hadn't got the translator working.

Hernandez had no answer for that, which made her feel like an inadequate captain, it was her job to keep her crew safe and to always have a way to get them home safely. So far she only had half formed ideas and plans, and that wasn't good enough. She hadn't tested their comm link to the _Columbia_ because she wasn't sure how their host would react. There was only one way to find out, and they could really do with an expert in translation software. She reached for her own communicator. "Hernandez to _Columbia_ , do you read me?" She asked - she didn't need to keep an eye on their new friend, Maraschino was practically honed in on it - listening to the crackle of static.

~-x-~

Tajock turned as he saw ensign Barnes turn sharply, coming into his vision just in time to see the frown. "Ensign?" He kept the question vague, allowing Barnes to fill in the blanks.

"I thought I heard someone on the comm, but I can't get it back."

"The ship?" Tajock asked, standing to join Barnes at the comm station.

"No, I think it came from the planet."

"Have we detected any communication technology on the planet?" Tajock asked.

"Are you asking if we've scanned the whole planet yet?" Sutton teased, Tajock raised his eyebrow at her. "No, not yet." She replied in her most professional voice.

It didn't take a master of logic like Tajock to deduce, in this case, that if Barnes had heard something, that it would be the away team. "Raise the Captain." Tajock ordered, and Barnes set to it.

"I'm having trouble raising them..." Barnes reported, running a quick diagnostic over the systems.

The three senior officers on the bridge looked up, and Corby decided never to play poker with either the other two, he wasn't surprised the vulcan didn't look overly concerned, but he was surprised at how well Sutton managed to look like this was perfectly normal as to not worry any of the junior staff before she turned around to use her scope. "Is the other ship jamming communications?" Tajock asked.

"No, sir." Barnes replied.

"I'm reading some large mineral deposits not far from their last known location, it's possible they're causing some interference. Have you tried recalibrating the subspace transceivers?" Sutton reported, looking up as she asked the question, and Barnes confirmed that it was currently running. "If that doesn't work we can try a workaround using the deflector, but we're going to need an hour or so to-"

"I've got them." Barnes interrupted as the calibration and debug finished, clearing up the signal enough to read them.

"Captain, can you hear us?" Tajock asked.

~-x-~

The comm line was still full of static, but they could hear Tajock through it all. "We can hear you." Hernandez confirmed. "But not well."

"Where are you?" Tajock asked, clearly assuming that they needed some sort of aid given that they had called in outside of the routine times.

"We're in some sort of cave, I think we're still under water somewhere..." Hernandez figured.

"How can we be underwater with air?" Maraschino asked.

"It's a balance between the water pressure and the air pressure." Perdue explained. "And the angle at which the water can flow into the cave or the air can escape-"

"Water is heavier than air, so the air is trapped when the only way in is at the bottom." Sutton cut in with a quicker - though less scientifically accurate - explanation. She didn't entirely trust that their comm line would hold given that they were talking through solid rock full of minerals that had a habit of playing havoc with their communication devices.

Maraschino considered her question answered and Perdue easily took the hint - there was a time and a place to educate the other disciplines on scientific matters. Hernandez checked on their new friend, who had looked up from her scanner and was observing them in a curious manner. "Back to the point, I think we've been caught trespassing." She started again. "We have a new friend, but so far they haven't said a word to us, so I'm not sure how we can go about communicating and apologising."

"Do you have any scans to send to us?" Tajock asked. "There is often a small correlation with physiology and language bases."

"If nothing else if might get it talking." Maraschino muttered.

"With that attitude, you can't fail." Sutton teased. Perdue tried not to chuckle as Maraschino glared at the communicator. Hernandez meanwhile had taken Perdue's scanner and taken a step towards the alien, holding the device in a way which she hoped was obvious she was asking permission to use it. It watched her, but didn't react like it had the first time, maybe playing with one had reassured it that it wasn't designed to be dangerous. She took a breath and slowly started to scan the creature, ensuring that she made no sudden movements, and didn't dare release it till she had finished and the alien had done nothing other than blink at her.

Just as Sutton confirmed that she had received the scans and Tajock came to help her to analyse them, Machu stirred. Like the others he had just been stunned by the creatures to capture them to determine whether or not they were a threat, but he had been hit the hardest as they had been learning how much force was required to subdue these newcomers.

At first he was confused but relatively calm as they explained what had happened, and at the same time they were explaining his eyes landed on the alien creature still watching them. "Captain, look out!" He started, brushing Hernandez aside in her surprise and reaching for his underwater pistol as he moved towards their captor.

The alien responded swiftly, before Machu had time to do anything and before the rest of them - their voices amplifying by the echoes in the cave - could stop him, and fired it's own harpoon at him as it stood to it's full height, even with the pronounced arch to it's spine, it was easily over six feet tall.

For a second none of them dared move, worried that it would turn on them too, then as Maraschino was the closest she moved carefully to where Machu had fallen. Scanning as she inspected him. "He's still alive!" She realised, the spear had gone through his left shoulder, and she had Perdue help lift Machu's upper body back above the water level. Machu still had his helmet on, but that wouldn't mean much now that part of his suit had been obliterated.

"Captain, what is happening?" Tajock came in over the comm as they realised that no one was going to volunteer the information without a prompt.

Hernandez turned back to the alien from her fallen crew member, but other than looming over them - watching intently, all four of it's eyes blinking slowly - it made no further movements. "Machu got shot with a harpoon of some kind. He woke up confused and made to defend us against the alien."

"If we get him back to the ship he'll live, his arm might be a write off, though." Maraschino replied as she finished scanning. "What?" She added when she saw the look both Perdue and Hernandez were giving her for her bedside manner, or lack thereof.

"We'll stop the bleeding as best we can, maybe get Lawson on the comm to advise." Hernandez started. "Get me a way to communicate." Her tone hardened into an order.

~-x-~

"Dedicated comm between away team and Lieutenant Lawson established." Barnes reported.

Tajock nodded to confirm that he'd heard, though did nothing else but continued to go over the physiological data with Sutton. Corby thanked the ensign in his stead. "I know ensign Sato managed to create a translation database for the Xindi Aquatics, is that not our best bet?" Sutton asked, turning enough to see Tajock where he was stood next to her chair.

"I cannot see any similarities to make that assessment."

"I can't see evidence that these creatures have vocal chords." Sutton retorted.

"I do not know of an aquatic species that communicates via pheromones." Tajock replied.

"Colour?" Sutton half joked. Tajock was on the verge of reprimanding her - reminding her to base her ideas on science - when an alarm went off.

"Sir, the other ship is coming our way." Corby reported, as Sutton turned to her instruments to ascertain it's progress. "If we're going to remain undetected we need to move out of range of the away team."

"Can we beam them out?" Tajock asked, it would not help relations between this new species, and they'd possibly be shot during transport, but they were running out of options.

"No." Sutton replied. "We have no lock on their location."

Tajock nodded and returned to the captain's chair. "Captain, there's another ship approaching. Stand by." Sutton and Corby shared a stunned look, they hadn't doubted Tajock's ability to command, but to see him give their captain an order took them a little by surprise.

"They're in visual range." Sutton reported in, pre-empting Tajock's next command and putting it on screen. "We're being scanned." She added, reciprocating by continuing her scans from earlier now she had more options available.

"Open a channel." Tajock ordered.

Barnes did as he asked. "They're only giving us audio." Tajock nodded, it would do. "Open."

"This is Subaltern Tajock of the SS _Columbia_ , we are conducting a survey of the planet. Who am I speaking to?"

There was a pause in which most bridge members held their breath in hope and the rest were busy monitoring their instruments, before a crackly voice came over the comm. "We are an alycone vanguard vessel, you are in our territory. You are advised to leave."

"We will comply with your request when we have retrieved our people from the planet." Tajock agreed.

"This planet belongs to us, as does anything on it's surface. If you do not leave then we will claim your ship too."

"I disagree." Tajock replied calmly. "Our people do not belong to you. I request just enough time to bring them back."

"Denied." The crackling, rasping voice replied. "We will give you five minutes to reconsider and leave, but this is your final warning."

The line went dead and the senior officers shared a look, they knew the universe wasn't always a friendly place, but even so this kind of aggression took them by surprise sometimes. "Options." Tajock asked.

"Apart from fighting?" Corby asked, not sure if he was asking a rhetorical question.

"I would prefer to avoid a fight, but if they give us no option we will need tactics." Tajock confirmed. Corby nodded and set to analysing the scans they had of the ship for weak points and the major hazards for themselves. He turned to his science officer.

"Don't ask." Sutton warned. Tajock raised his eyebrow at her. "We've got no fixed location so a shuttle or transport are out. I'm still working on communication. We could drop into the atmosphere, but based on the information available, I think their ship would be better suited to that than we are." She turned back to the scans she still had up of the alien's physiology. "Music." She suddenly said, seemingly out of nowhere.

"I'm not sure music is going to deter our new friends from shooting at us." Corby joked.

"Actually, that is worth a try, I hadn't thought of that." Sutton replied, half joking. "No, I meant playing something to the alien with the away team. I can see equivalents to ears, which means they can hear sounds."

"Most creatures that can hear use verbal communication." Tajock agreed. "So you think that music might prompt it into making some form of noise." Sutton nodded. "That would at least allow us to determine how."

"The alternative is running a full sweep of frequencies including ones we can't hear to see what makes it react, but I think that might be more likely to hurt it." Sutton admitted.

The same thought occurred to both science officer and vulcan at the same time, maybe the creature couldn't hear the same frequencies they could, and that was why it didn't react to their questions. Maybe they couldn't hear what it could make. Tajock directed Sutton to a database from the communications data-bank that contained a variety of sounds from creatures with frequencies both inside and outside their own hearing.

~-x-~

"Captain, can I have an update on your status?" Tajock came in over the comm, giving Hernandez a distraction from listening to Lawson keep Maraschino calm whilst administering what aid she could to Machu.

"Same as before, we need to evac Machu as soon as possible, but the rest of us are fine." Hernandez explained.

"Captain, I'm sending you an audio database to play over your comm." Sutton cut in, deciding to cut to the chase given that they were running out of time. "Can you tell me if the alien responds and when. There will be times when it goes quiet, but I will let you know when it has finished."

Hernandez agreed, wondering where the scientist was going with this, but assumed that there must be a point at it would be quicker to do before explaining. Sutton stated when the experiment started, and Hernandez was able to hear the first few clips, then there were patches of silence in-between ones she could hear. The creature turned as if it heard something during the second silence, but it wasn't until the fifth silence that it opened it's mouth. Hernandez didn't hear a thing apart from Sutton in the background talking to Tajock, clearly that was good. "What have you got?" Hernandez asked.

"Tajock is doing his thing." Sutton replied as Tajock had retaken his seat whilst poor Barnes stood awkwardly, knowing this was only a temporary switch. "We've got a starting point, you aren't going to be able to hear anything, but trust me there is audio there. Bear with us."

Hernandez made a note to remind her senior officers to explain before they did rather than leaving the rest of them in the dark, when they were out of this situation. The alien had taken a few steps back from them when it realised they were not interested in attacking it after it shot Machu, but now it returned to looming over them, it's jaw working as if to tell them something, looking confused that they did nothing but look at it. Moments later she heard noise, Sutton had applied a transposing filter so that the frequencies got shifted into the hearing range for both species whilst Tajock worked on his translation algorithm. "I can hear it." Hernandez reported.

The creature repeated itself, realising that it could now hear her. She decided to try talking normally to it, hoping that doing so would keep it talking, giving Tajock more to work with. She had just started to hear familiar words coming from the alien when she heard a bang and a shout over the comm. "What's going on?" Hernandez asked.

~-x-~

"Our friends are back!" Corby reported as they all recovered from the rocking caused by the attack.

"Hull plating damaged, but no other damage to report." Sutton added.

"Commander, finish the communication work, use ensign Barnes." Tajock ordered, standing up to go and deal with the more immediate threat. "Lieutenant, give me their weakest points."

"Their weapons are shielded by a different system to the rest of their ship." Corby explained. "They have to lower their shields to fire. So if we're clever we can take them out."

Tajock took a seat again. "Helm, evasive manoeuvres, pattern beta. Lieutenant, take their weapons offline." He decided.

~-x-~

"Sorry, Captain, you've got me for now." Sutton explained, sounding like she was trying to hold on to something whilst pressing buttons. "We've got a second claim of trespassing."

"Same species?"

"No, the universal translator worked on them. Alyconians." Sutton explained. Hernandez vaguely recalled mentions of them in vulcan intelligence reports, but nothing of particular note. Sutton didn't sound any wiser. "How are we doing?"

"I want to be back on my ship." Hernandez admitted, her frustration getting the better of her.

"There were no others on your ship." The alien said.

Hernandez almost dropped her communicator in surprise, and both Maraschino and Perdue turned sharply as they understood everything the creature said. Somehow it's voice sounded floaty, dreamy even. "You searched our shuttle?" Hernandez asked.

"Yes." The creature replied. "There were no others."

"It came from a bigger ship, from space." Hernandez explained. "We didn't realise the planet was inhabited, we wanted to explore the ruins. We're sorry for trespassing."

The creature considered them for a time. "You had no intentions of staying?"

Hernandez shook her head, before realising that the creature probably didn't understand what that meant. "No." She replied. "We cannot breathe in water. Even if we could, we have no intention of forcing others from their homes or taking from them without asking."

"You are not like the others." The alien decided.

"The Alcyonians?" Hernandez asked.

"Maybe." It replied. "They come in their spaceships and scavenge our lands for resources." It paused. "Why did it want to shoot me?" It indicated to Machu.

"He was confused after he woke up, he didn't realise you were just watching us. He thought you were attacking us." Hernandez tried to explain in a way that didn't make them sound trigger happy. She wasn't sure she managed.

The creature thought. "Only he tried to attack, the rest of you did not." It sat down next to Hernandez as if it were comfortable with them now. It did not hold Maraschino trying to shoot them as they subdued them as any form of offence. "How is he?"

"He needs medical help." Hernandez explained honestly. "Please, can we take him home?"

"You will leave?" The alien asked. Hernandez nodded. "Will you come back?"

"Only if you give us permission."

The alien didn't reply to that, it appeared to be considering what she had said. "I will take you back to your shuttle." It decided, moving away from them.

Hernandez was able to explain that they needed to prepare Machu before they moved him. In doing so she introduced everyone by way of explaining what was happening, in reply they learnt that the creature's name was Ith'ra, or at least that was the nearest pronounceable version for them. Ith'ra explained that he and a group of their scouts had found them sniffing around ruins of their old city and had decided to subdue them to find out what they wanted. They had not anticipated the communication difficulties they had encountered.

"Okay, we're ready." Maraschino stated, once she'd finished tying up Machu's shoulder as Lawson had instructed her.

"Okay, let's get back to the shuttle, then we will be ready the moment the _Columbia_ is free for us to dock." Hernandez ordered, and as Maraschino and Perdue put their helmets back on she explained to Ith'ra that he would need to use the communicator to talk to them with their helmets on.

~-x-~

"Away team is returning to the shuttle." Sutton reported, pausing as the ship rocked again and a panel blew out at the back of the bridge. "Hull plating is down to fifty percent."

"Two of their turrets are offline." Corby reported.

"Can we get the shuttle aboard with them firing at us?" Tajock asked.

"Technically yes, but they're likely to get shot down during the attempt." Sutton explained. Tajock had expected as much, but knew it was better to double check. "We have reports of fires on the lower decks." She added.

"Third cannon taken out." Corby added. "Helm, correct course, bring us in above them."

There was a loud bang as a system next to the operations table overloaded in a series of sparks and smoke. Only Corby and their helmsman didn't turn to check on the crew members nearby, they were busy evading the enemy ship. Sutton reported in the minor injuries for when medical aid could be spared whilst one of the nearby ensigns assured them they were okay whilst picking up a fire extinguisher. "Lieutenant." Tajock prompted.

"Last turret destroyed." Corby confirmed a few seconds later.

"I'm reading a build up of energy in their weapons systems." Sutton added.

"Helm, hard about. Transfer additional power to the aft hull plating." Tajock ordered.

"Where did they hide their torpedoes?" Corby half asked as he scrambled to find their origin within the ship, based on her reply, Sutton was having an equally hard time locating the ships additional weapon banks.

"Never mind that, Lieutenant." Tajock cut in, assuming the question was rhetorical, and therefore irrelevant. "Can you disable them?" He shouted above the sound of another busted panel behind the unused engineering console next to Corby.

"Not until I find them."

"I think I have an idea." Sutton piped up. "Corby, do you see that imbalance in their propulsion?" She asked, gripping the handles on her station as their helmsman pulled some more evasive manoeuvres, narrowly missing the next barrage of torpedoes. Her trick of using her feet to wedge herself into leave her hands free was only so good, when thinks got this rocky she had to hold on too.

"Yes, but their shields are too strong for our weapons to be effective." Corby reminded her, he'd braced himself with one hand to allow himself some dexterity.

"But not our deflector." Sutton explained.

"Yes, if we can get in below them, we can use the deflector to overload their systems." He realised.

"How long?" Tajock asked.

"I just need to recalibrate the deflector, two minutes tops." Sutton replied, turning to her scope as she started her work.

"Helm, pattern echo, try and stay below them." Tajock ordered.

~-x-~

On their journey back to the shuttle Ith'ra gave them a brief insight into the history of the barlyn people. The city Hernandez's team had been exploring had been built on land, but a natural event - which had been lost to history - had raised the sea level putting most of the planet underwater. His people had used their scientific abilities to alter their genes to allow them to breathe underwater, and since then evolution had taken it's course, allowing them to further adapt to their new home.

They had originally lived in the underwater cities, before the alyconians had come to their planet from the sky. They had been less inclined to talk, coming to plunder the resources they could find, and injuring or killing any of the barlyn who got in their way. Eventually they had retreated to caverns that existed beneath the seabed and in the underwater cliffs, where the alcyonians didn't come looking for them.

"So you know about interstellar travel?" Hernandez asked as they neared the shuttle.

"Yes." Ith'ra confirmed. "But we do not have ships of our own." They had reached the shuttle now, and Hernandez watched as Maraschino secured Machu as Perdue assisted. "This is an incredible feat of engineering." Ith'ra added as he placed a hand on the shuttle's hull.

"My people have a policy of non-interference with the development of other species." Hernandez explained, she wasn't sure if Ith'ra heard her as he didn't react. "I guess this is goodbye then." She figured, not sure how one said goodbye to someone who had held you in a cave because they didn't know if you were dangerous or not.

Ith'ra turned back to her, and held out her communicator. "This is yours."

"Keep it." Hernandez decided. "Then if we ever come back we can ask if we can visit."

Ith'ra turned it over in his hands. "I believe we can use this to modify our own technology to interface with yours." He decided.

"I wish we'd been able to see your new city." Hernandez admitted as she swam aboard the shuttle, putting her hand on the door to pull it closed.

"Perhaps we can negotiate some visits in the future." Ith'ra suggested. Hernandez smiled, before realising again that he probably didn't know what that meant, and bid him farewell as she pulled the hatch shut so that they could start pumping out the water.

Maraschino had a faster way, and manoeuvred the shuttle to the surface of the sea. "The shuttle's pressure regulation is independent of how much water is on-board, and holds pretty well for small gaps." Once there they released the seal on the door again to drain the water away faster. Once the water was only knee deep Hernandez resealed the hatch so that Maraschino could start preparing for take off.

As she took her helmet off Hernandez turned to Perdue, who was checking on Machu, he shook his head at her, it wasn't good. " _Columbia_ , this is Hernandez, we are ready for evac, what is your situation?"

There was a moment of silence over the comm in which Maraschino actually double checked their comm unit was still functioning properly, but before she even had the diagnostic started a familiar voice came through. "Captain, this is _Columbia_. You are clear to leave the atmosphere." Tajock reported calmly.

"You had us worried there, Tajock." Hernandez scolded, Maraschino wasted no time with take off now they had the all clear.

"Apologies, Captain, we were just finishing a negotiation." Tajock admitted. "The alcyone ship is disabled, and they have agreed to leave this planet alone in return for their lives."

Hernandez and Maraschino shared a look. "We don't usually ask for concessions in exchange for lives." Hernandez reminded Tajock.

"Yes, Captain, but they did not know that." Tajock replied calmly, almost innocently.

"Did you lie, Subaltern?" Hernandez teased.

"Omission." Tajock corrected.

"Our science officer is a bad influence on you." Maraschino teased.

Hernandez managed to resist chuckling. "We're on approach now, tell Lawson we've got a patient for him."

~-x-~

"Damage report." Tajock stated, holding out the data-pad for Hernandez to take. Hernandez looked up at him from the desk in her ready room, and massaged her temples before taking it from him to look over. "How is Lieutenant Machu?" He asked after a moment.

"Doc is expecting him to be back on duty in a couple of days." Hernandez explained, she had just come up from the medical bay from seeing both Lawson and Machu for an update on the lieutenant's condition. "But only time will tell how much function he'll regain in his arm." Lawson had been able to save Machu's arm and some of the nerves, which meant that he could still use it to do simple and undemanding tasks. They wouldn't know exactly how much more would need to be done - or what could be done - until he had undergone some physiotherapy. Lawson was cautiously optimistic that the worst of the damage could be repaired with time.

Tajock had nothing further to add, there was nothing he could say or do that would make the process any easier. "We have also received a communication from the planet's surface, they have invited us to stay for a few days on an information and cultural exchange."

Hernandez smiled despite herself at that news; this was what their mission was about. "Then I need to contact Starfleet to find out how to proceed." Tajock nodded and waited a moment to see if there was anything else she needed him for, before turning to take his leave. "Oh, and Tajock, try not to get in trouble the next time you borrow the car."

"Captain?" Tajock asked, not sure he understood the reference.

Hernandez smiled. "Never mind." She decided. "You did a good job keeping her in one piece." She added more seriously, and Tajock nodded an acknowledgement as he left her ready room. As the door slid shut behind him, Hernandez turned to look out of the window where she could see the edge of the planet down below them. She knew that as adventurers they had inherent risks, but this had been a learning experience, they needed to start being more careful. They had been lucky this time, next time they might not be so fortunate.

* * *

Cinn: I'll try and update more regularly as hopefully life will calm down a bit now (I've said that before though), but I'm not updating this till I finish the last chapter for another one I'm writing. I'm halfway through that though, so hopefully it won't take too long. By then I might also have figured out why OpenOffice has stopped spell checking for me... I'm currently relying on Firefox when I upload.

Thank you for reading. :)


	6. In the Dark

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill.

Cinn: Okay, now I only have one active fanfic, hopefully I will have time to keep up with it, and get back into the swing of it so I don't forget my own continuity. I think I caught all the references, but just to clarify Tajock is not second in command, Maraschino is, Tajock is third in command.

* * *

"Is this seat taken?" Lawson asked as he spotted Sutton at a table on her own, halfway through her own dinner, his on the tray in his hands.

"No." Sutton replied. "Feel free." She added, half looking up from the data-pad she was focused on.

"Aren't you off-duty?" Lawson asked as he took a seat.

Sutton turned back to him with a wry smile on her face. "Trying to write a letter to my brother - brothers." She corrected herself. "Not getting very far." She admitted.

"Are you close to your brothers?" Lawson asked.

"We have our ups and downs." Sutton admitted. "Especially the youngest, Archie." She pushed the data-pad away from her, clearly giving up on it for now. "I meant to talk to you actually-" She started.

"You are not borrowing my equipment." Lawson pre-emptied. "I heard about the _Intrepid_."

Sutton pretended to look affronted. "One time, one time I set the lab on fire and that's all anyone remembers."

"That's the problem with infamy." Lawson teased.

Instead of dignifying that with an answer - she knew that she'd never really be able to shake the incident in question - she instead moved onto the real topic she'd wished to discuss with the doctor. She'd recently seen a new study on the characterisation of foreign microbes and wanted to know if they could use the findings in their explorations and what modifications they'd need to make. She also wanted to know if the study was accurate and not just a fudge; her real area was at the boundary between physics and chemistry, not biology, so she was seeking a more expert opinion.

Neither of them noticed the odd way the light on the comm unit on the wall flickered, or the brief, low hum of static.

~-x-~

"I didn't know anyone else used the gym this late." Corby observed as he arrived to find Maraschino already at home, happily using the punch bag in the corner.

"My morning work out was interrupted by that false alarm this morning." Maraschino explained between punches, hopping on her toes between. "I'm making up for it."

For a moment Corby forgot to reply as he silently appraised and admired her form. "What are you being prepared for?" He asked.

"Our mission is to explore the unknown, therefore everything." Maraschino replied, opting to finish this set with a high kick, perfectly balanced despite the fact she only stood a little higher than five foot. It took Corby a moment to remember he was staring, and hadn't actually continued their conversation. By which time Maraschino had circled to start a new set and had caught him, rolling her eyes and giving herself a wry grin. However, their conversation was lost to both of them a moment later when they both looked up as the lights flickered. "Is that normal?" Maraschino asked.

"I grew up on transport ships, and it happened all the time." Corby admitted. "But for a world class starship, I'd have thought it'd be better build."

Maraschino brushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face - a highly irregular occurrence, usually her bun was immaculate - as she walked over to the comm unit. "Maraschino to engineering, we've got some flickering lights in the gym, does it need logging?"

~-x-~

Nukunda rubbed his eyes as he tried to work out why he was awake, a second ago he'd been perfectly relaxed, lying back in a shaded alcove near his favourite spot at the river in the park just down the road from his flat in San Francisco. A vacation in a night.

The chime came again from the comm unit above his night stand, and he rolled to press it. "Nukunda here." He replied sleepily.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but we've had reports come in from all over the ship about odd goings on."

"Odd how?" He asked, thinking he recognised the voice of Crewman Strong, but given his own abrupt awakening and the comm line he couldn't swear to it.

"It's as if systems are temporarily losing power, but we can't find any reason for it."

Nukunda managed to resist letting out his frustrated sigh whilst the comm line was still open. "I'll be right there." He decided, also deciding to swing by the mess hall for some coffee.

~-x-~

The captain woke to the familiar, dimly lit, rusty ship he called home, realising that it was a voice that had woken him as he heard it again. "Captain." One of the twins prompted, the lad.

"Report." He replied, acting as if he hadn't just been slumbering in his chair, straightening up for the status report from his rag-tag crew. He was flaxian, tall and sturdy, his hair messy but still with the traditional trappings of his people fastened into it, they had been dulled with time and dirt, but they still provided a stark contrast to his dark hair.

"We're in." The female twin explained. "They can't see us." The humans weren't as strong as his species, but their ingenuity was legendary, and he had never met hackers as good as them.

"And we're ready to commence docking procedures." Her brother added, and the twins shared a look, it was one of confidence, one of self-assured skill. Their pale skin was grubby, and their light brown hair messy and greasy, but they wouldn't let insignificant things like that worry them until they had what they had come for.

"Good." Their captain replied, only partly sharing their confidence. They were good, that's why he had them in his crew. However, it wasn't a success until they had the goods and had returned to their colony with them. Too much was at stake to assume that they had what they needed this early on. "Run a double check on your surveillance hacks." The captain ordered. "This ship is far more sophisticated than our usual ride, I don't want to miss anything."

"Understood." The man replied, completely professional as the siblings started a double check on their work.

~-x-~

Things didn't get much clearer when Nukunda arrived down in engineering. They had already run the basic diagnostics, which had shown nothing, and they had found no equivalent fluctuations in their power source. They had dozens of reports all saying the same thing, so they knew that it wasn't just one person's imagination running away with them. There were problems throughout the ship, though none were exactly replicable; every engineers least favourite problem - intermittent.

After finding no problems in their power source, they moved on to tracing problems back from the systems they had reports of problems on - that was a much bigger task as so many minor problems had been reported in. But they had hoped that if they worked backwards they'd find a single system they all shared that was causing the problems.

Unfortunately things weren't that easy, and they found nothing unusual. Nukunda decided it wasn't a mechanical problem. They needed someone who could help run checks on all their subroutines, algorithms and sophisticated control software. "Engineering to Lieutenant Commander Sutton." He called over the comm.

There was a moment of silence before they heard what sounded like a thump. "Sutton here." Nukunda tried not to grin at the fact he knew she was glaring at the wall the same way he had a number of hours ago. She wasn't due on duty for another couple of hours, she was probably still an hour away from getting up. Hence the aggressive way of opening the comm. He knew how she felt, he'd probably only been able to get a couple of hours sleep. That was one of the reasons he had been trying to get this sorted with the night shift, they could do with problem solvers that were well rested, not all functioning on minimal sleep.

"We're having some problems down here, can you come and lend us your computer skills?" He asked.

The silence indicated that she really wanted to say no, roll over and go back to sleep. "Give me five." Was the reply she eventually gave, before signing off.

Her timing hadn't been exact, but it was near enough, though Nukunda noticed her under shirt was purple rather than her black uniform shirt, he didn't comment. She had clearly grabbed the nearest things to wear under her uniform - or possibly just kept her pyjamas on - so that she had more time to go and grab coffee. "What's the problem?" She asked, finishing tying her hair into a bun, moving a hand to stifle her yawn as she looked around.

Nukunda handed her a data-pad as he explained. "We've had reports of flickering lights, ghost readings on sensors, static on the comm and visuals that go away soon after they appear. Some of the sensors won't stay online."

"Sounds like a power drain or corruption in the operation commands." Sutton figured.

"We can't find a power drain, we've spent all night checking." Nukunda confirmed, Sutton had assumed as much.

"Okay, which is the most consistent problem and I'll start checking those systems first." Sutton decided, and Nukunda pointed her to the sensors, and found the appropriate section on the data-pad so she knew which sensor systems to check first.

Over the next few hours everyone in engineering was slowly deciding that they were not going to have enough coffee on the _Columbia_ for them to find this problem, and that was with a shift change. Nukunda was almost convinced he was crazy as all their tests came back negative, nothing was wrong, but it was clear something was. Sutton was starting to think her eyes were going funny as she delved deep into the code that held the ship together. For a moment she thought she had something, something that shouldn't have been there, but she lost her train of thought as the warp core shut down behind her.

Everyone turned as they realised what was happening. Nukunda running to the railing on the walkway he was on. "Pierce, field stabilisers. Strong, injector assembly. Rivers, diagnostic on the core." He ordered. All three of them running to get on that. Pierce had been helping Sutton, but the women shared a look as the orders came in and hurried in different directions. Sutton went to go and see what Rivers found as she hopped up onto the platform to join him.

"What have we got?" Nukunda asked as he managed to join them.

"Nothing, sir." Rivers reported. "There's no faults showing up, it just... shut off." He paused. "But it's not going critical, so there's no breach."

The two senior staff nodded, that was the most important thing. "May I?" Sutton asked indicating to the console that Rivers was using, and he nodded and stepped aside to let her work. "It looks like it received the shut down command, that's good, I can use this to trace the source."

"Who would shut down the core?" Nukunda asked.

"I'm hoping it's corrupted command sequence." Sutton explained. "Otherwise, we've been hacked."

"What good would cutting our engines do someone hacking us?" Rivers asked. "Wouldn't they be more interested in the data-banks?"

Nukunda and Sutton shared a look as they came to the same conclusion. You cut the engines to get at physical goods. Nukunda jumped down from the platform - in a display of athleticism that most of the crew forgot the chief engineer had - to get to the comm unit. "Captain, we have a problem."

~-x-~

A blinking light on the twins console turned green. "Phase two complete." The woman stated, sharing a secretive smile with her brother.

"We're attached." Her brother confirmed.

The captain looked at his own information read out in the console adjacent to his chair, things looked to be going quite smoothly even if he didn't trust that it should. "Are we ready to fully dock?" He asked.

"We have their sensors and their engines." The lad replied.

"All we need to do is cut the power, and we can blast our way through." His sister added.

"Then I'll get our engineer to lay the charges." Their captain decided, opening his comm line.

~-x-~

"Captain, do you read?" Nukunda asked as he waited for a reply. He turned to the console within reach to run a diagnostic on the comm system. "Comms are down." He reported.

That caused a few people to turn back to him, before scurrying away to get back on with their jobs to find out why their ship was falling apart around them whilst nothing was apparently wrong with any of the systems. Sutton started rummaging through the pockets on her uniform, finally clasping her hand around the communicator she had, and yelled for Nukunda to catch whilst she went back to her diagnostics console to try and find out what was actually wrong. "I'm starting to think that our best bet is to restart all the systems." Sutton admitted out loud.

Nukunda had just finished issuing instructions to the poor ensign who'd answered the comm units to get some to each department, and was considering Sutton's suggestion less warily than he would normally consider restarting all their systems, when engineering went dark. Completely dark.

"I didn't touch anything!" Sutton confirmed, she didn't need them to break out the torches to know Nukunda was giving her the evil eye, as if she'd jinxed them all.

Nukunda didn't need to issue any orders for his people to break out the torches and diagnostic tools and pass them round. "Restart commands aren't working." Crewman Biggs explained as he handed Nukunda and Sutton torches, Sutton already had her scanner in her hand.

"Are any systems still online?" Nukunda asked.

"No." Sutton replied.

The communicator in Nukunda's hand beeped. "Hernandez to engineering, what have you done to my ship?"

For a moment, Nukunda didn't want to reply. "I wish I knew, captain." He admitted. "We've had reports all night of malfunctioning systems, but we haven't been able to find a cause."

"What do we have?" Hernandez asked, biting down the impulse to shout at her engineers about how they could let their ship breakdown. She knew that they wouldn't let this happen if they knew how to fix it.

"Only things running on independent systems." Sutton cut in. "Shuttles, scanners, communicators, beacons."

"Then we need to drop a beacon, if we can't get this fixed then we need to get help." Hernandez decided, that was something tangible that she could get on with. "But we ne-"

"Captain, we've got a bigger problem." Sutton cut in, holding her scanner so that Nukunda could see what she was looking at. He nodded to confirm her suspicions. "We have a hull breach."

"What?" Hernandez snapped, before regaining control of herself.

"Then we probably were hacked, that looks like it could be the outline of a ship, but the hand held scanners aren't sensitive enough for us to get a proper reading from this distance." Nukunda explained, Sutton nodded, she read it the same way, but they had no way to boost the range of it, nor the time. "Can we use this to restart the main computer?" He suddenly asked.

Sutton considered that suggestion. "If we can find a power source, I might be able to create some override commands. But without knowing exactly what they've done, I won't know exactly what to override."

"Try it anyway, without life support the only oxygen we have is from the EV suits and the shuttles." Hernandez ordered. "Corby, Maraschino, investigate that hull breach. Tajock, we'll go and try and launch a beacon."

~-x-~

"I think we need to get Nukunda to put a priority on the turbo-lifts." Corby muttered as they finally reached the deck Sutton had reported the hull breach. He had managed to route his security teams onto each deck, sweeping for any one or thing that shouldn't be there. For now, however, he and Maraschino were on their own until they were able to meet up with his people on this deck.

Maraschino spared him a look that suggested he should be quiet, as she checked her scanner to see what was at the other side of the door. She nodded once, they were good, and Corby moved to manually open the door. Both had their phaser pistols raised as the door opened and they carefully moved forward, Corby resting his phaser on the wrist of the hand that was holding the torch for extra stability. Maraschino was using the same trick, but instead of a torch was using her scanner to see by, she had clipped her torch to her uniform in case she needed it later.

It felt wrong to be wandering the corridors in the dark, Corby doing a slow turn to ensure nothing had come up behind them as Maraschino kept her eyes front. "The hull breach doesn't breach to the deck flooring." Maraschino explained quietly as they got near enough for her scanner to get a proper reading. "We'll need to get into the crawl spaces to find it."

Corby double checked both directions before making his way to an access panel near to them. "Do you hear that?" He asked just before he was about to release it.

Maraschino nodded, turning herself to try and find the source of the sound. She heard it again the same time as her scanner found a heat source, turning with her phaser ready to shoot once she identified what it was. She took an involuntary step towards it, knowing that she couldn't ignore it, but also knowing that it was the perfect way to allow something to sneak up behind her. It's what she would do.

Maraschino and Corby identified the target at the same time, but while Corby focused on the alien in front of them, taking a shot, Maraschino allowed her senses to stray behind her, ducking under the foreign phaser beam aimed at where she'd been seconds earlier. She raised her weapon again to fire, but the alien was faster than she was. She couldn't see any defining features in the dark, as she dropped her scanner in favour of her torch, but she could see the metal fastenings in it's hair, leathery skin and ridges on it's forehead. It twisted out of her shot and she had to take over behind a barely large enough support to avoid being hit.

Corby was still trying to get a shot on the other alien, he had already taken cover behind a support - for all the good it did - trying to let the alien do more work as he tried to get a shot on it. He had never seen this kind of alien before, but it looked like a large cat, and was fast and agile. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of it's claws, as it was happily able to use them to hold itself against the ceiling. In-between shots he was attempting to request back up.

"Commander, look out!" Corby shouted as he noticed the feline alien turn it's attention to Maraschino, who was still hunkered down whilst trying to stun the other, with her back to the feline. The alien was quick, despite Corby's renewed efforts to stun it, it was able to almost dance around his shots - he came close to grazing it a couple of times - before landing behind Maraschino, who had now turned to see what Corby had tried to warn her about. She skilfully manoeuvred around it for a couple of seconds, striking and dodging, before it caught her kick and applied a grip to her leg and shoulder that had her turn to jelly and slip to the floor.

Corby took another shot now that Maraschino was no longer in the way of it, but the alien had already lost interest and charged off towards it's friend, both of them hurrying away from the two Starfleet officers. Corby took a couple of pot shots after them as he hurried to check on Maraschino, and was reassured to find a steady pulse. "Two unidentified aliens have just left E deck." He reported in. "Alpha and beta teams, move to intercept."

~-x-~

Engineering was a hub of activity, dark but punctuated by sweeping beams of lights as people scurried about with torches to try and restart their power source.

Nukunda and Sutton were trying to hack into the main computer using Sutton's scanner, Nukunda's torch held in place using his mouth, Sutton balanced between her neck and shoulder, until it became uncomfortable and she switched sides. There was nowhere good to try and prop them so they could see, and they had already dismissed the idea of using someone to hold lights for them as everyone was needed to try everything else Nukunda had been able to think of that might restart the engines.

Despite the noise of the activity around them - including the occasional curse as people walked into things or dropped tools on toes - they were so focused on their task that they both almost jumped when Nukunda's communicator beeped. "Hernandez to engineering, Tajock and I have set the beacon, how are you guys doing?" They heard their captain as Nukunda managed to free a hand to answer.

"The good news is that we've narrowed down the list of things it could be." Nukunda replied, then Sutton made an annoyed noise and frowned. "And I think that was another."

"I'm guessing the bad news is that we still have no power?" Hernandez checked, she did not want things to have gotten worse.

"Yep." Nukunda agreed.

"That and I think I've rewired half of engineering through my scanner." Sutton piped up far too optimistically for the situation, but it was true, the pair of them were currently surrounded by wires and tools reminiscent of a disorganised workshop or garage.

"Don't break my ship any more than you already have." Hernandez warned, sounding a little worried, she too knew of the fire aboard the _Intrepid_.

~-x-~

Doctor Lawson turned as he thought he heard something in the med bay behind him. Since the power had gone down he and the few other junior medics that had been on duty had prepared for any emergencies that might occur. The power cut meant that the doors weren't working, but there were manual overrides and maintenance shafts that gave them access to the rest of the ship. However, he had not wanted any of his people to go into them unnecessarily.

He shook his head and decided it must have been on of his staff, none were directly in his line of sight, and continued reviewing the emergency pack inventories they had.

Then he heard the scuffling sound again, and this time decided to walk around the shelves to investigate rather than try and peek through them into the darkness. He hadn't even got past them when he heard an unfamiliar voice. "No further!" It warned.

Lawson paused, only half of him was visible to the stranger, but he was in view enough to see that the man had a weapon pointed at one of his staff - Ensign Cooper to be precise. He reached to be able to open his communicator, but didn't have time to specify a channel. "What do you want?" He asked.

"Supplies. Don't interfere and no one gets hurt." The man explained, the small movement of his pistol was meant to remind them of the danger. "My friend there is getting what we need, we won't be long." He assured them.

Lawson followed the other man's line of sight to see who his friend was and what he was digging through. "A flaxian and a caitian." He observed, being their medical officer he had the most practical knowledge of alien species, though Tajock was possibly the exception. "I haven't met any of your respective people before."

"They're not **our** people." The flaxian corrected firmly.

"I apologise." Lawson replied. "If it wouldn't offend, may I scan you? I never know what medical assistance might be required of me, detailed scans of you would help if I was ever-"

"No."

"Please?"

"No." The flaxian repeated in the same tone that even the universal translator managed to keep that meant 'not up for discussion'. "Be quiet." He added firmly when it looked like the doctor was about to start talking again.

"If I'm quiet, will you not hurt anyone?"

"We didn't come here to harm your people." The man confirmed. Lawson nodded and decided to stay quiet, watching as the caitian finished gathering supplies, once asking where they kept something and they provided it. Presently they had what they came for, basic colonial medical supplies, along with what Lawson would add if he were going to deal with an unidentified outbreak.

Once they had it, they made to leave, the flaxian keeping Ensign Cooper with him until he was about to get into the crawl space, then let him go and hurried after his friend. After checking that everyone was all right he went back to his communicator and picked it up. "Did anyone get that?" He asked, he knew there was a chance no one had picked up his signal or whether or not they could have heard anything if they did.

~-x-~

"We did, doctor." Hernandez replied. "Please stand by." She added as she turned to her communications officer. Lawson was smart enough to know not to clog the channel if it wasn't urgent.

Tajock had picked up the signal from Lawson, and had been able to boost it so that they could hear what was going on in the medical bay. He was also coordinating between Nukunda and Corby, who appeared to be making good progress. Maraschino hadn't been stunned for long and had regained consciousness about the same time Corby's security teams found them. Once they were together Corby had come up with a plan, which was running through Tajock.

Hernandez and Tajock were both looking at the communicators as they counted down the seconds in the cargo bay, hoping that it was going to be as easy as Corby had made it sound.

Hernandez almost jumped at the sudden loudness as Tajock's communicator beeped, he flipped it open. "Secured, and we're sending data to Sutton." Maraschino came through. "Tell her to work quick." She added. Tajock confirmed and they both closed the channel, not sure if their new friends were tuned in to their frequency.

~-x-~

"No hard feelings." Corby explained as he finished securing their new prisoners. They had boarded the small vessel through the hole it had made in their hull and found only three people home. Two humans on the bridge surrounded by computers and cables that reminded Maraschino of a typical teenage hacker wannabe's bedroom, and an amphibious engineer who looked like she had considered lobbing a grenade at them, only to think better of it in her engine room.

"How are we supposed to take this?" The man asked them, they had refused to give them names.

"How are we supposed to take you drilling a hole in our hull?" Maraschino asked.

"Technically we blew it out." The engineer offered.

Corby and Maraschino shared a look as they left two of Corby's men to watch over them and they returned to the join between the two ships to wait for the other two, with the rest of his men. It was cramped, but they knew they were better ambushing them here than in the corridor or the alien ship. Corby's communicator beeped - Sutton had worked her magic, and she and Nukunda were waiting for their signal.

Now all they had to do was wait.

They were alerted to their quarry returning by the sounds of a crate being moved down the engineering access ducts they were in. It wasn't easy to cart anything through the crawl spaces, but they were designed to get engineers and their equipment and parts to the necessary areas, so it could be done.

Corby lifted his communicator. "Hit the power." He commanded, there was a second before anything happened, then the familiar hum of power before the lights came on, as they were expecting the sudden change they were better prepared to raise their weapons at the interlopers. "Stop right there." Corby warned as he blinked the brightness away.

The flaxian and caitian glanced around them before sharing a look as if to silent ask if the other thought it was worth trying to fight their way through. They were so close, and they had the goods, why fail now? "Ah, ah, ah." Maraschino warned, causing them both to look up to where she'd found a good vantage point higher up in the crawl spaces, with two phasers, one aimed on both. "I will fire if you move."

"My crew?" The flaxian asked.

"Being guarded by my men, they can't help you." Corby explained.

"But alive?" Corby nodded to confirm that they hadn't hurt them.

The two shared another look, and the caitian nodded once, solemnly. It was better to surrender to people who hadn't hurt them than to risk getting their entire crew killed in a fight. Both of them raised their hands and offered no resistance.

~-x-~

With their ship secured, the intruders in the brig and Nukunda and Sutton having managed to eliminate the corrupted and hacked subroutines and commands from their system, Lawson having seen to anyone injured, Hernandez had gone to examine the ship that had bored through their hull.

"What are we dealing with?" She asked, looking around the small, filthy bridge.

"Mercenary vessel from the looks of things." Maraschino replied.

"It's an oddly small and mismatched group for a mercenary outfit." Hernandez replied. Lawson and Tajock had filled her in on the species. The vulcans had encounters with all of them; flaxian, caitian, bzzit khaht and human. But neither knew of any situation in which they'd been found working together before. The flaxians and bzzit khaht had the least information on them, but the caitians were known to be creatures of honour, both renowned warriors and diplomats.

"Pirates?" Sutton joked from where she was accessing their databases, Hernandez spared an unamused look at her science officer, who shrugged unapologetically.

"Our engineers have finished their examinations, apparently it looks like they've been patching this ship up with second hand parts sources from multiple technologies." Maraschino explained. "In short, they're not sure how it runs at all."

"Get Nukunda down here." Hernandez suggested.

"He's still busy supervising the repairs in engineering." Sutton replied. "I'm still in the doghouse for leaving him to deal with that." She explained, Hernandez had to admit, she could understand that, it was her orders that had Sutton here and not engineering. "But I think I have an idea of what they were up to." She admitted.

"An idea?" Hernandez checked.

"Well they haven't got a mission log for me to access." Sutton explained. "But I have their most frequently visited coordinates, the list of what they took from the med bay, and the contents of their cargo bay." She added, handing her captain a data-pad. Hernandez quickly assimilated the information before radioing in to her current helmsman to set a course for the coordinates Sutton had just given her.

~-x-~

Hernandez turned as she heard the door to the turbo-lift open and Corby escorted the flaxian onto the bridge - the entire of the crew had refused point blank to say anything to them, including their names. Given that the rest of the crew always looked to the flaxian when they had made attempts to question them and their intentions, they had taken him for the leader.

"Thank you, lieutenant." Hernandez stated, turning back to the planet on the view screen for a moment. "Do you recognise it?" She asked, turning back to the flaxian.

"Why have you brought me here?" He asked.

Hernandez wasn't sure if he meant the planet or the bridge. "Because we think we know why you broke into our ship, and if we're right, we're willing to help you." She explained.

He glared at her for a moment. "Why would either of us trust the other?"

He had her there. Hernandez shrugged. "Because you don't know what we think of you, so if your story matches what we think we've established, it suggests some amount of truth." She paused as he considered that. "As to why you should trust us, we haven't hurt you, and what happens if you remain in those cells?"

A silence broken only by the hum and beeps of the equipment and instruments stretched over the bridge as the flaxian considered her point. He turned to the view screen again, the planet he now called home. They needed those supplies. With a sense of resignation and guilt at betraying his crew, he started to explain.

They were all outlaws or outcasts for various reasons, and this planet, their planet, had become their home. A society for those with none of their own. Despite some shady pasts they were a peaceful and happy colony. However, because of some of the people they had taken in they had few options for trade and supplies. He had formed his crew to steal the few supplies they were unable to grow but desperately need, and he thought they had too much practise at something they would prefer not to do. Especially now, for the last few years their colony had been beset by some kind of disease, a plague that killed so slowly that it could take years for suffers to wither away in agony, yet every time they thought they had contained the outbreak it found a way back into their community. They were able to grow most of their own food, and they had water supplies, but medicines were difficult to come by without outside trade.

Once he finished Hernandez considered him for a moment, before glancing at Sutton who gave a tiny nod. She had been monitoring their guest on her sensors, and he hadn't shown any normal physiological signs of lying, or at least any they knew of in the species they knew well. So he was either a damn good liar or telling the truth. "Then we will offer whatever assistance we can." Hernandez decided, opening a channel to tell Lawson to prepare for a field trip.

None of the _Columbia's_ crew were familiar enough to register the confusion from the flaxian, he had not really expected anything broaching help. "What?"

"If you will permit it, we are willing to give you those supplies, and offer the assistance of our medical staff to try and fully categorise and cure the disease infecting your people." Hernandez explained. "If we are successful, we might be able to work towards getting some form of partnership between our peoples and open up some trade routes for you."

"And what about my crew?"

Hernandez considered this. "Providing you are willing to enter into a charter that says you will not resort to robbing from other vessels in the future, I think we can excuse past discretions given the circumstances." She figured. "And let you return to your colony."

The flaxian agreed to those terms, and Corby removed the cuffs holding his hands in place as Hernandez stood to take the pair of them to meet Lawson at a shuttle. "In retrospect, I think we picked the right ship to steal from." The flaxian admitted as the turbo-lift doors closed behind them.

* * *

Cinn: I debated whether or not to give names to the alien crew or not, but because I wanted to reflect the fact that they were a completely unknown and unfamiliar entity, I decided not to. I'm still not sure I like the way that worked in the end. Please review.


	7. Trust and Suspicions

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill.

Cinn: Thanks to everyone who's read this far, this chapter gets a little weird, but it's my attempt at challenging a character's own perception about themselves and who or what they can trust.

* * *

"Aren't you late?" Hernandez teased as her ready room door opened and she recognised the familiar face of Captain Jonathan Archer walk in. The _Enterprise_ had responded to their emergency beacon after the _Columbia's_ loss of power but by that time they had already resolved the situation and opened up a dialogue with the colony who had attempted to steal supplies from them. Doctor Lawson had been halfway to his cure by the time they arrived.

Since they were in the same sector for a change, they had decided to spend a few days swapping intel, stories and training. "Trip wanted to give you a piece of his mind for breaking her." Archer teased right back.

Hernandez chuckled. "Breaking barely covers it." She admitted. "I think Tucker might have actually had a fit if he'd seen what Nukunda and Sutton did to engineering to get her working again."

Archer considered that. "I've seen what he's done to _Enterprise_ , you'd be surprised." Given _Columbia's_ first mission out of space-dock had involved Tucker hard restarting _Enterprise_ above warp five, both captains well knew he wasn't exactly conventional.

Hernandez decided to take up that challenge. "Has he helped your science officer wire up her scanner into the main computer so that she can hack into the warp core?" Archer considered that carefully, he didn't think Tucker had, but then again, if there was anyone he'd let - or even consider helping - do that, it would be T'Pol.

~-x-~

"Well, apart from the hole in the hull, she's in surprisingly good shape." Tucker decided as he and Nukunda finished running through the _Columbia's_ niggles and faults.

"Next time I'll ask them to knock, sir." Nukunda replied, completely deadpan.

"I didn't think it was too much to ask that she be kept in one piece for a year." Tucker teased, not entirely sure if the new chief engineer was joking or not. "Took all I knew just to get her out of dry dock."

"It wasn't just **his** effort." A voice came from behind them, and the two men turned from the schematics they'd been reviewing to a bemused looking Sutton, who was clearly off-duty as she had her hair down. "The way he tells it the rest of us were just sat twiddling our thumbs. Has he told you how many times I had to shut him down to stop him overloading the engines and frying our systems?"

Nukunda turned to Tucker with a quizzical eyebrow. "Well, I had some support." Tucker admitted, pretending it was reluctantly. Sutton folded her arms, with a mock look of affront on her face. "Yeah, okay, having to explain everything to this fresh faced crew helped my memory too." He teased, and Sutton shook her head at him as her amusement broke through and they greeted each other properly with a brief but friendly hug.

"C'mon." Sutton prompted. "There's some trays in the mess with our names on, and I've got some theories I want you two to compare notes on."

"What, no stories?" Nukunda asked.

"Oh, those too." Sutton added far too innocently that the men shared an almost concerned look with each other.

~-x-~

The following morning saw both sets of senior staff gathering in the armoury of the _Enterprise_ for a training program that their two tactical officers had put together based on the _Columbia's_ brief adventures and the rather more expansive ones of the _Enterprise_.

"How long have you two been plotting this?" Maraschino asked, with narrow eyes at Corby.

"Not that long." Corby attempted to reassure her.

"So you two were up all night then?" She added with an all too innocent look. They decided the best thing to do was to ignore her and get down to business.

Despite any grumbling or teasing about the earliness or the diligence to which their tactical officers had gone, everyone was there to put the effort in and to learn from each other. They all had skills and techniques that could be developed and learnt from to aid them all, despite the differences in tactical abilities throughout both senior crews.

For the most part their plan went according to plan, with a few surprises such as when Sato and Maraschino were paired up, that turned out to be a more feisty match than either anticipated. Lawson and Sutton's sheer stubbornness and determination saw them through a few incidents that should have otherwise defeated them, and T'Pol's quiet unassuming grace and strength always came as a surprise, even to those who knew what she was capable of.

By lunchtime they had all had a thorough workout, though some articulated that it was in fact too thorough, Lawson simply assured them that it was good for them.

Their afternoon was to be spent on target practise using the drones, with the same premise. Exploit the fact that everyone had different styles and experience, and let those with similar styles teach each other based on their own experience. Well, that was the focus, sharing techniques that didn't come naturally was a bonus too.

Things were going smoothly until one of the drones dodged one of Tucker's shots into another drone, and must have hit something on it as it suddenly swerved. Before anyone could hit the reset, and before anyone could do much more than to yell to duck, Maraschino was halfway to ducking when it struck her in the head.

~-x-~

When Maraschino came too she was pleasantly surprised to realise that she didn't have a splitting headache, Lawson must have given her some good stuff. Then she realised that she wasn't in the med bay, nor her quarters, the place had a strong perfumed fragrance. The kind that was used to cleanse less pleasant smells from the room.

She slowly blinked her eyes open, adjusting for the light, which was a surprisingly soft yellow. She soon located the reason for that, the light was provided by sconces on the walls, which she just as quickly realised were stone not the metal bulkheads she though she should be familiar with. These were decorated with lavish tapestries and paintings, she wasn't sure if that was to provide better insulation than the cold stone, or to brighten up the place.

She raised a hand to her head, where she remembered something striking it, though she couldn't remember what it was. There was a small bump, and probably an accompanying bruise, but no blood, and no pain. That was something. She pushed herself into more of a sitting position, which forced her to notice her clothing. She was wearing a burgundy red dress, with long flowing sleeves and a similarly long flowing skirt that she could easily lose her legs in, highly impractical. It was complimented by a leather bodice that she instantly hated more than the skirt. She preferred short skirts or trousers that didn't impede the movement of her legs, and she preferred belts that had a function, and she wasn't counting seductive power as a function.

She had just swung her legs towards the floor when the door opened, and she saw Lawson and Sutton enter. In similar attire to her own, Lawson in a plain, clean doublet a dark green, and Sutton in a long, flowing dress a colour of blue faded to almost grey. "Good, you are awake." Lawson stated. "Lady Hernandez will be pleased."

"Lady?" Maraschino repeated.

"How hard did you hit your head?" Lawson asked incredulously, as he opened a bag of rudimentary medical tools. "Our mistress, Lady Hernandez, you have been one of her handmaidens for years."

Maraschino nodded, she should have known that. Sutton waited patiently to the side as Lawson used instruments that Maraschino thought were far too cold to ascertain her heartbeat, her temperature, then Lawson turned to the other woman and asked for a certain drug, and Sutton opened a small wooden box that Maraschino could easily have mistaken for a jewellery box, and plucked out a vial that contained some vile concoction that he made Maraschino drink. "You should be fine, but no doubt our Lady will want me to check on you again in the morning." He decided. "I will inform her you are awake, she will want to talk to you."

"Am I allowed out of bed?" Maraschino asked. Lawson decided that if Hernandez didn't want to force Maraschino on bed rest, she was free to get up and about.

Maraschino wasn't kept waiting long by the lady of the castle. Hernandez arrived moments later, an elegant vision in deep green, the skirts stiff and heavy and richly embroidered in gold and silver patterns, her hair twisted and fastened elegantly around her head, a vastly different picture to the functional ponytail Maraschino felt she was used to. Hernandez seemed rather concerned about her well being, checking that her most trusted handmaid was fine before they got down to business. That at least allowed Maraschino to clarify a few points that had become fuzzy.

"I have Sir Corby organising a search of the castle." Hernandez explained. "But it would help if you remembered anything, or if any of your contacts have heard anything?"

"The other handmaids?" Maraschino asked, playing for time.

"Don't be coy." Hernandez scolded with a smile. "There is no one listening to worry about compromising your network." She paused. "Besides, even if someone did, most people would dismiss it as the idle talk of two lowly women." The secretive smile on her face suggested that she very much used such views to her advantage. Maraschino nodded in the same vein.

"Only Lawson and Sutton have been in since I woke up." She added, and Hernandez looked at her with a faintly hidden quizzical expression, as if Maraschino had said something slightly out of place. "They were strictly concerned with my health." She added, wondering if one of them were one of her contacts. She needed to find her stuff, and hope that she had left herself a way to kick her memory back into gear, otherwise she would need to worry about how much she'd lost from the bump on her head.

"Of course." Hernandez agreed. "You should rest. I'll have Sir Corby place an additional guard around Lord Archer's ensemble as a precaution."

Maraschino had entirely forgotten that Lord Archer was here on a diplomatic visit with his people. "You think one of his people did this?"

"I refuse to rule anything out." Hernandez confirmed. "We both know he is only here to try and find reason to take my title and lands, to stake his claim." Her tone said what she didn't out loud; the cheek!

Maraschino nodded, and promised to rest and find out what she could as quickly as she could and report back. Hernandez gave that small, almost secretive, smile again and took her leave. Once she had left Maraschino pushed herself out of bed, and started to investigate the room she was in. It appeared to be her room, there were familiar trinkets - the comb, porcelain cat, her leather bound ledger -, the letters from her brother with inserts from her niece, jewellery she'd had so long she'd forgotten how she had it. The rest of her correspondences and documents were coded, but it was a code so familiar to her that she had it sussed in minutes, allowing her to remind herself of the extent of her network of contacts and spies. The rest her memories filled in for her.

She carefully returned everything to it's proper place, hiding the important items, and went to go and get updates from her people. Her feelers came back quickly, everyone in her network was completely loyal to her, and those she sensed wavering were either disposed of or reminded whose side they should be on. No loose ends. Unfortunately none of her people had anything concrete for her, only that if there was anyone to blame, it wasn't any of Hernandez's people. So she sought out Sir Corby, the knight in charge of Hernandez's military, her security and guard for her people inside the castle and the surrounding towns and villages.

~-x-~

Corby had had nothing new for her, he was still in the corridor that she'd been knocked out in, his breastplate shining in the firelight from the sconce. It looked like one of the statues had slipped enough to strike Maraschino, but that it was impossible to know how it had got to that state, even if it was unlikely it slipped on it's own, they couldn't rule it out.

Maraschino thanked him and decided to report back to Hernandez before she turned in for the night, by now she wasn't so worried about her memory because as she went about her business things seemed to fall back into place as she needed them to. He status as head handmaid to Hernandez meant that her small room was adjacent to Hernandez's chambers, allowing her quick and easy access, and so far no one suspected that it also allowed the women to conspire with the information that Maraschino's spies provided for them. Most of the lords of the land didn't think women were capable of the game of politics, which made Hernandez's position both perilous and easier.

Somehow, Maraschino was not entirely surprised to see another person in her mistress' rooms. If she were honest, part of her would have been disappointed if there hadn't been an attempt on Hernandez's life - not because she wanted her lady dead, but because she'd have lost the respect an enemy of Archer's standing deserved. She calmly, quietly, sidled up to the woman and placed her hand over the one that was carefully selecting something from the combs and hairpins that were laid out on Hernandez's vanity. "Are you lost?" Maraschino asked, just loud enough to wake up her mistress.

The intruder turned to her, all beautiful eyes and pretty charm, dressed in high quality silk. "Not at all." She lied, fluently. "I came to speak to Lady Hernandez, but found her asleep, so I thought I would wait till she awoke."

By now Hernandez was not only awake, but pulling on a robe over her nightdress. "And what, pray tell, miss Sato, is so important that it could not wait until morning?"

Sato didn't turn around, her eyes fixed on Maraschino's, clearly having decided she was a bigger threat. Allowing Hernandez to go to one of the side doors and instruct one of her other handmaids to get Corby. Maraschino spotted the way Sato's eyes darted towards the pins before her hands twitched to follow the same path, and before she even had time to finish contemplating the move, Maraschino had plucked a dagger hidden within her bodice and had it against the younger woman's throat. Sato took the hint and moved her hands carefully away from the sharp objects, and followed Maraschino's pressure with her hand and blade to sit down in one of the plush chairs, with her hands in clear view.

When Corby joined them he was utterly confused as to why he had been summoned, even after the explanation both women provided. "Men are not the only people who kill." Hernandez added when it became clear their original explanation was insufficient.

Corby nodded in agreement, as the cogs in his brain ticked over, processing this development. "What do you want me to do with her, milady?" He asked, deciding that he didn't know what to do with a woman who had attempted to assassinate a lady of the realm. All three of the woman in the room had to resist rolling their eyes, men always assumed their kind were helpless individuals who needed protecting and coddling. When presented with woman who was not only smart, capable and dangerous, it broke all their expected rules that they flustered.

"I want you to place her in a cell until we are ready to question her, and to not let her seduce you on the way." Hernandez explained, the clearest way she knew how. "And don't underestimate her ability fight or outwit you either."

Looking slightly mollified, Corby did as his mistress instructed, and took Sato's arm and directed her towards the cells. Meanwhile Hernandez and Maraschino started discussing what they needed to know, how to best go about finding it out, and what order to do it in.

~-x-~

By the time morning rolled around Maraschino was almost grateful she'd been knocked out, it was the only rest she'd had amongst all of this.

Politically they couldn't risk forcible interrogation of Sato, they had no proof she was actually planning to do anything malicious - whether or not she had and they knew that was irrelevant - therefore any mistreatment could incite a diplomatic incident with Archer. Publicly he was bound to agree to some kind of investigation into what one of his servants had been doing, and he was far enough removed that if they found proof he could deny his own knowledge. But if they mistreated one of his people, that gave him a reason to publicly move against Hernandez.

Instead they had Corby increase the presence of the knights around Hernandez, and vet them all again. Officially, that was Corby's responsibility, unofficially Maraschino was repeating the work because of their different networks. Those who passed both tests Hernandez approved to be in her personal guard, though Corby was unaware of Maraschino's input, as he would do worse than dismiss it if he knew. Most of the time Hernandez liked the fact that she had an entirely secret spy network - though she was under no illusions that she only had it because of Maraschino's loyalty to her - but other times it irked her that she couldn't even let on that she had another source to the captain of her knights.

Naturally it made for both and interesting and awkward breakfast, Lord Archer politely enquiring if they had seen one of his servants, and Lady Hernandez demurely explaining that Sato had been found in her quarters in the middle of the night and that her captain was trying to ascertain the details. Calmly reassuring her visitor that Sato was being treated well and that he would be able to see her soon if he so wished. No one present was under any delusions, Hernandez's apparent modest behaviour was a front to lure them into a false sense of security. It also prevented any of them from calling her out without a certain amount of proof.

It would be improper for Hernandez herself to partake in the interrogations, despite the fact that she was more than capable, and more than willing. So it was left to Sir Corby to take charge of getting any information out of Sato. Archer had insisted on checking on her, though he was supervised so that they didn't have a chance to get their stories straight, before he returned to Hernandez to continue their diplomatic discussions. Or more rather, he continued to argue that he should take over her lands and she continued to refuse to yield anything.

Maraschino had no place at either, so she toured the castle to talk to the staff to find out what they knew. Even when they didn't know anything, a surprising amount could be gleaned from the bits and pieces they all knew if you put it all together. She started outside, with the stable hands and groundsmen. "Nothin' out here to see." One of the young stable hands piped up.

"That's just 'cause you ain't looking too hard." The head grounds keeper, a tall African man by name of Nukunda, corrected firmly. "One of the pair in the cottage snuck out, but that's not uncommon, and they headed away from the castle into the woods anyway."

"You mean the doctor's place?" Maraschino checked.

"Aye." Nukunda agreed. "Him and the blonde lass. Couldn't tell you which it was, mind, too dark and too far away."

"Besides, if they went into the wood they had nothing to do with it." The stable hand piped up again, worried that his elders were thinking either Lawson or Sutton had something to do with this. He knew them, and liked them, they were kind people.

Nukunda scoffed. "Away is the best place to be if you've helped plot the downfall of the Lady of the manner."

"But they're both in now?" Maraschino asked, and they both nodded.

There were a few more people milling around, and she asked them too as she noticed Archer's footman - Mayweather - also there, but no one could add any further information, so she headed back inside. She needed to check on her lady before lunch, and it would give her a chance to talk to her scribe, an elf by the name of Tajock. He was quiet, but he noticed more than anyone else in the castle apart from herself. He was one of her best contacts.

She entered the chambers they were conducting their discussions in a demure, quiet way, and made herself comfortable out of the way near where Tajock was watching and listening. She knew him well enough to tell that he was tense, masking his glare at the way Lord Archer kept his own elf near him, close enough to pet her and request things of when it took his fancy. She was elegant, feline, and also clearly holding back her own distaste for his behaviour with fire in her eyes but otherwise serene. Normally Maraschino would never question Tajock's loyalty, but for a brief moment she wondered if T'Pol hatched a plan to dispatch both Lady Hernandez and Lord Archer, if Tajock would agree to help one of his people escape slave hood.

It was not uncommon for servants to pass notes between them as a way of organising events, they were there to do their master's bidding, not to be seen or heard. Therefore, Tajock passing Maraschino a note to tell her when lunch was to be served was perfectly normal. After reading it, Maraschino waited an acceptable time to ensure that Hernandez had no need of her, before silently excusing herself so that she could check in with the kitchen staff. She ignored the lewd jokes that Lord Archer made of her as she departed, earning chuckles from Baron Tucker and Sir Reed. She heard his fake apology to Lady Hernandez, and she only heard the beginning of Hernandez's put down. Hernandez knew how to play with the boys.

~-x-~

Tajock had slipped her a second, coded note with the one about lunch, and it simply told her that his sources had led him to believe there had been some kind of inside partner in Archer's plot, but that he wasn't sure if it had been intentional on their part.

She had popped down to the kitchen after that, but everyone there was far too busy with lunch to have anything useful for her. So after she finished her customary overview to ensure that nothing had been missed for lunch - testers, guest peculiarities, etc - she left them too it. She very rarely needed to do said overview as their staff were highly competent, but it was part of her job.

After grabbing a quick lunch she went to her last stop, the doctor's cottage. It was separated from the main castle building by the stables, but it was still within the grounds and walls, nearest the woods where the walls were the least secure as no one expected an attack to come through the thick tree line Hence why it was easy for either the doctor or Sutton to come and go without being spotted.

Lawson greeted her warmly, though in some confusion before she reminded him that he had never had the time to check up on her that morning as he said he would. His confusion instantly vanished, and she smiled at him, he was not a man for secrets and subterfuge, he was honest and kind, just the kind of man suited to being a doctor. "If you're feeling fine then we have no need to worry." He assured her. "Do you feel fine?" He asked, almost as an afterthought.

Maraschino nodded. "Sometimes I have to ask something, and then when I hear the answer I'm confused how I didn't already know it." She admitted. "But otherwise, yes, I feel fine."

Lawson nodded, sparing a glance at Sutton who was busy pouring over notes whilst brewing some kind of potion or poultice. "That's to be expected with a blow that hard." He admitted. "If it doesn't pass in a few days, come back. I'm sure we can find something to help." He paused. "Has Sir Corby made any progress finding out how it happened?"

Maraschino shook her head, tampering down her indignation at the fact he assumed she needed Corby to investigate. It was not his fault, she was a handmaid, it was not her place to investigate. She doubted he would think twice if she were a guard, she doubted he'd question her capacity. "Why not give me something to help now?" She asked instead, playing on the demure womanly nature that everyone assumed she had.

"Because we don't have anything." Lawson replied as if it were simple, not to belittle her, it was honesty that led his behaviour. "By monitoring your symptoms we can plunder our knowledge and cook something up. Miss Sutton here has an intuition I've not seen the like of before."

Sutton had glanced up at them when she heard her name, but quickly lost interest when she realised that they weren't talking too her. Maraschino turned back to the doctor. "Miss Sutton is the one who makes the potions?"

"She's an incredible alchemist." Lawson agreed. "Honestly, I'd only be half as good as I am without her. I can follow recipes no problem, and given enough time I'll be able to cook up something new that will do the job I need it too. Miss Sutton, however, has an understanding of how the ingredients interact that would take me years to master, and that's if I did nothing else."

Maraschino nodded, and had to stop herself from looking at the other woman again, who had occupied herself with her work. Sutton appeared to have found a way to transcend the usual place of a woman, and openly so. Yes, she was Lawson's assistant, not an alchemist in her own right, but that was more than most women managed. Lawson also praised her for her work, rather than taking the credit for himself. Maraschino found herself distrusting Sutton, deciding that she needed to keep an eye on a woman with such obvious power. Then she second guessed herself for a moment, she didn't question her own power, or Lady Hernandez having power, why did this woman merit such scrutiny?

Because no one is questioning why she should have it.

~-x-~

Maraschino didn't need to have her actual eyes on Sutton to know what she was up to, her network was good and efficient. So when Sutton headed into the woods, Maraschino knew about it despite being in the castle trying to extract information about Corby's investigation from him.

As Sutton was her main interest right now, she bid Corby farewell and went to go and investigate. In the woods it was easy to shadow someone without being seen, especially when they didn't expect to be followed. For the most part, Maraschino was starting to think she had been wrong, Sutton was simply collecting ingredients; herbs, mushrooms, roots. Maybe she hadn't bewitched anyone, maybe she wasn't about to meet on of Archer's people.

Just when Maraschino was getting tempted to give up and head back to the castle, a cat appeared seemingly out of nowhere, between her and Sutton, back up and hissing in Maraschino's direction. Sutton turned, apparently unconcerned, and crouched low and made cooing noises at it, soothing it until it relaxed and turned to the other woman, cautiously sniffing her hands before letting her pet it. Maraschino had never seen anyone tame something so quickly, maybe this cat knew Sutton? It wasn't to be unexpected if she came into the woods often.

The cat seemed content to follow and watch Sutton as she continued her quest for ingredients, neither seemed to react when they spotted an adder at the edge of a clearing. Sutton almost seemed happy to find one, and in a display of finesse that had Maraschino completely dazzled, was able to trap the adder and start extracting it's venom into a vial she was carrying. Without coming close to being bitten, it was like she had it dazed as much as Maraschino by the act. Once Sutton had finished, the adder seemed to meekly slink away.

As Maraschino was taking her next step, two things happened almost at once. The first was that Sutton looked up and right at her, almost as if she'd known where to look for her. The second was that during that step Maraschino caught her foot on a root and went stumbling to the ground, wondering where it had come from, she had been checking every step she took so as not to make a sound. Could Sutton have distracted her? Could Sutton have moved the root?

Before she had time to ponder these things, Sutton was by her side helping her back up, fretting over her, asking if she was all right. Maraschino nodded and tried to assure her that she was, despite the throbbing in her ankle, and the way pain shot up from it when she attempted to put some weight on it. Maraschino was in no state to object when Sutton emphatically stated that they needed to return to the castle, they had something that would fix it in the doctor's cottage.

They must have been halfway back when the cat that had made itself Sutton's friend hissed and bolted in an acrobatic display only a cat could pull off. The two women turned to see what had spooked it, and saw a small pack of wolves too near to them for comfort. They stayed still for a moment, waiting to see if they had been spotted, the breeze was in their favour, but it was light, and might not be enough to mask them entirely.

It wasn't, and the wolves started prowling towards them, but just before they dispersed into a hunting formation, Sutton twisted and flung her arm out and before Maraschino could ask what she'd done a brilliant flame burst just in front of the lead wolf, and they all scattered. Sutton didn't pause to allow any questions, instead increasing their speed as they headed back towards the castle where it was safe to ask questions.

~-x-~

It didn't take them long to get back from there, safely in the doctor's cottage with a poultice applied to Maraschino's ankle. They had found it empty, Lawson must have been needed for something in the castle proper. "What just happened?" Maraschino asked.

"You followed me." Sutton replied simply with a shrug as she stood up from applying it again. "Why?"

"I wanted to know what you were up to." Maraschino explained.

"I was collecting ingredients for my work." Sutton explained, emptying the bag she'd been carrying onto the table, showing Maraschino the contents. There was nothing suspect there.

"Including the venom?"

"The best way to find an antidote is to have a sample of the venom to work with." Sutton explained. "Besides, it's a useful component in it's own right."

"In healing potions?"

"Not all potions are for healing."

Maraschino frowned, why would someone create potions that weren't for healing? "How did you tame it? And the cat? It looked like you bewitched them?"

"Bewitched?" Sutton was clearly close to laughing. "It's a matter of knowing your animals. Cats like non threatening attention, and if you can grab an adder the right way it can't bite you and the pressure points force it to relax."

"But you cast a spell at the wolves, I saw the fire?"

"Spell?" Sutton did laugh that time, though Maraschino wasn't sure if it was out of confusion or desperation. "It was a potion, liquid fire that explodes when you break the flask containing it."

"I've never heard of such a potion."

"I'm a damn good alchemist." Sutton replied, matching Maraschino's calm certainty, it brooked no room for argument.

~-x-~

Maraschino hadn't argued with Sutton, but neither had she believed her. Instead she went straight to Hernandez and Corby, and she found them together as Corby was giving his report to Hernandez. Explaining everything that had happened, what she had definitely seen, and the explanation that Sutton had given her.

She didn't give her own bias until the end, and they agreed with her assessment; Sutton was a witch.

From there things happened almost too quickly for Maraschino to comprehend, Hernandez ordered Sutton arrested immediately, and they went down to the courtyard with Sir Corby who diligently went to the cottage to find Sutton and bring her out. When he reappeared she looked afraid, almost terrified, yet indignant, asking what she had done. The commotion had naturally attracted attention, the yard workers were trying to look like they weren't watching, and Archer and his own personal guard-knight Sir Reed had arrived to see what was happening.

Hernandez drew herself up to her full height as Corby presented Sutton to her. "Did Sir Corby explain why you are here?"

"No." Sutton admitted, looking between all the eyes that were on her.

"You are arrested on account of witchcraft, you will be subject to a full investigation to determine the accuracy of this account." Hernandez explained calmly. "You shall be placed in a cell during this time, and released if you are found innocent, and executed if proven guilty."

"Witchcraft?" Sutton repeated as the accusation itself had hurt as if she had been stabbed, then saw Maraschino at Hernandez's side. "It was a potion! I'm an alchemist!" She shouted as her defence.

Before Hernandez could tell Corby to place Sutton in a cell Archer and Reed had joined them, asking what all this was about. Despite Hernandez's attempt to fend them off, she had no choice but to make Maraschino recount what she had told Hernandez and Corby. "Satisfied now?" Hernandez all but demanded when Maraschino was finished.

Archer and Reed shared a look, before Archer nodded, and before anyone could react Reed had removed his sword from the sheath at his hip and drove it through Sutton's stomach as she screamed. "You are found guilty of witchcraft and summarily executed." Archer stated, watching with disinterest as Corby grabbed Reed's wrist and disarmed him, all but arresting him.

"Why did you do that?" Hernandez demanded, as Nukunda and a couple of his people appeared to catch Sutton who had not died instantly, but had heard Archer's declaration and was fading fast, one of them had run to fetch Lawson.

"She was a witch."

"Pending an investigation, she might have been telling the truth."

"You do not really believe that." Archer replied smugly. "Besides, it is better to be safe than sorry with witches." He added, as Nukunda looked up at the nobility around him, and shook his head - Sutton was dead.

"She still deserved due process." Hernandez argued, and as the words left her mouth, Maraschino realised that Hernandez realised she shouldn't have said that, though her poker face was impeccable. Hopefully no one else there knew her lady well enough to spot the tiny, almost imperceivable, signs to read.

Archer looked Hernandez up and down. "Why would you defend her? Unless you are a witch yourself and worried about your own fate."

"That is nonsense." Hernandez retorted, still sounding strong, but it was clear she was aware she was walking on a tight rope.

"Is it?" Archer challenged. "There is only one way to deal with witches and their craft." He decided, nodding to Reed, who till now had allowed Corby to restrain him, but now put up a fight to break free. Archer himself made for Hernandez, but Maraschino blocked him with her daggers, but the move was desperate, and put her in a vulnerable position where blocking his next attack was harder. He towered over her small frame, and simply cast her aside with his superior weight before she could regain her footing to dodge, and she felt her head hit the stone floor.

~-x-~

Maraschino could hear voices before she could open her eyes, familiar voices. "She's back with us." The noise grated through her senses and she winced in pain.

"Looks promising." Another voice joked on seeing the response.

"Commander, can you hear me?" Lawson asked, and Maraschino nodded. "What hurts?"

Finally Maraschino was able to slowly open her eyes, blinking repeatedly as the light hit her, causing another lance of pain in her head. "Head." She replied simply, managing to fix on the doctor.

"Nothing else?" Lawson asked. After a moment in which she considered it, Maraschino was able to confirm that no, nothing else hurt. "Good, then you can have some painkillers, let's get rid of that headache."

Maraschino carefully pushed herself into a more upright position, Sutton moving to help her as she did, and Maraschino realised that they were all in gym gear, as if they had been interrupted during a work out. As she cast her eyes over the med bay it came back in a whirling rush, the _Columbia_ , the _Enterprise_ , the training droid she didn't have time to duck under. This felt instantly more familiar than the castle she'd just been in, yet after such an intense experience, it felt so strange at the same time. "How long was I out?"

"Only a couple of hours." Sutton explained. "That droid hit you at some speed. Knocked you out cold, and hard enough to cause some swelling and a bit of bleeding. Lawson worked his magic and you should be right as rain in a day or so. Depending on your concussion."

Maraschino resisted nodding as she absorbed that information, because Lawson had returned and was busy administering a hypo-spray filled with something to let her rest without too much pain. "Why are you here then?"

Lawson and Sutton shared an amused look. "Because you're my friend and I was worried about you." Sutton replied as if it were obvious, and as if she was desperately trying to resist calling Maraschino slightly rude names. For a moment Maraschino felt a pang of guilt that she'd accidentally got Sutton killed, even if it was in her head. It had been horrible to see, but it was a reminder that other people couldn't be trusted to react fairly. "Want me to strike you off the friend list?" She joked as she saw something flash across Maraschino's face.

Maraschino almost giggled at that, smiling at the other woman. "Fix the droids so they don't aim for heads, and we'll talk." It was Sutton's turn to giggle.

* * *

Cinn: I had two different ideas for the head space, not sure I picked the right one, but there we go. Thanks for reading, constructive criticism etc always appreciated.


	8. Don't Upset the Rhythm

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill. Chapter title borrowed from Noisette's song.

Cinn: I couldn't find any exact information about when starbase 1 was built, I know that they're scouting for a potential site in ENT: Bound, but I think it's generally established that it's built by the start of the Earth-Romulan war which I believe starts ~ 2 years after ENT S4. So I'm going to assume that by the end of ENT S4 they'll have started building it.

Also obviously helped by the fact that starbase 1 is used twice; once for berengaria and considered lost during the war, and used for a starbase on the edge of the sol system.

* * *

The bridge of the _SS Columbia_ was a hub of activity as Hernandez returned from her ready room. Maraschino was busy finishing her preparations to drop out of warp and navigate through a solar system. Tajock had just called her to relay their current position and time till their arrival, along with coordinating with their rendezvous Sutton and Nukunda were busy at the science station pouring over some complicated calculations to evaluate some schematics that Nukunda had gotten hold of. Corby was busy finishing preparations for a tactical upgrade to their systems, which he hoped to have the time and relative safety to run during their time here.

"Preparing to drop out of warp." Maraschino reported as Hernandez took her seat in the captains chair.

"Whenever you're ready." Hernandez reminded Maraschino that she had her captains full approval to take her initiative when it came to their helm. A few minutes later they had dropped out of warp and Maraschino was on approach to their orbit around Berengaria VII. "Let's see our hosts, shall we?" She prompted, and Tajock brought it up on the view screen. "Will you look at that." Hernandez added when she saw it, almost awed.

Since the _Enterprise_ had finished it's scouting mission - after being waylaid - Starfleet had made it's decision and started work on it's first starbase in earnest. The work crews were only a few months into construction, but the frame of the structure was starting to take shape, with the bottom few decks looking most of the way complete, which made sense as it allowed the crew a place to live, work and store supplies. Surrounding the structure were numerous vessels coming and going with supplies and crew changes, and worker vehicles bringing new parts in place to continue the construction. There were a few other military grade vessels within the convoy to provide protection.

The _Columbia_ had made it's way here in the hopes that they would have the capability of fixing their damaged hull, as it had been closer to their position than the sol system. They had already radioed ahead and the crews in charge of construction had seemed optimistic that they could fix her.

"Open comms, please, Subaltern." Hernandez ordered, waiting for Tajock to indicate that he had done so. "Starbase construction, this is Captain Hernandez from the _SS Columbia_ requesting docking permission."

Tajock had quickly established a channel as the commander supervising the construction effort signalled a reply, bringing it up on the view screen. " _Columbia_ , I'm Commander Yacobian in charge of the construction effort here." He paused as he was clearly listening to one of his staff off screen. "I'm sending the _Meitner_ out to meet you, they'll guide you in to dock where the crews can work on the Columbia and can shuttle people between her and what we've already built." He explained. "It's not much, but it's a change of scene."

"Between - what? - metal bulkheads and metal bulkheads?" Sutton muttered under her breath.

"Thank you, commander." Hernandez stated over her science officer, not even sparing the other woman a look. "I didn't know they'd let you off-world, you'll have to show me around what you're building out here."

"After the problems the Columbia faced they put a hold on the NX builds until they'd reviewed them. I'm more use out here overseeing this baby than waiting till they've finished pushing paper around."

Hernandez could believe that, Commander Brad Yacobian had been involved in the NX project since the start, mainly overseeing the vehicle development. She had been surprised to find him greeting them all the way out here, but he was right, he was more use building than waiting. He signed off the channel as the _Meitner_ reached them to guide them into an appropriate tether point. All the real docks were too busy to accommodate the _Columbia_ taking up the space for more than a couple of hours, but once tethered the maintenance crews and shuttles would be able to work on the _Columbia_ whilst a shuttle allowed her crew to take some liberty on what had already been built of the station.

~-x-~

"I've spoken to Commander Yacobian's people, and we have been granted permission to explore the common areas where construction has been finished. They suggest that we only allow half the crew over at any one time due to the size of what has been completed." Tajock reported as he handed Hernandez a data-pad in her ready room, they had just finished docking to the tether point and now they had crew operation points to finalise.

"Is it even a good idea to give the crew liberty on what is - essentially - a building site?" Maraschino asked.

"Given the nature of our mission, I want my crew as well rested as possible, which means I fully plan to exploit any potential liberty opportunities." Hernandez replied firmly. "Unless you have a better way to relax them?"

Maraschino considered the question, before having to admit that she didn't. "Then I shall arrange a schedule for shuttling our crew between the Columbia and Starbase." Tajock decided.

~-x-~

"Can you see that?" Sutton asked, as she pulled away from her scope to give Nukunda room to take a look.

"See what?" He asked, as he went to look, it might help if he knew what he was looking at.

"The background noise, it looks like there's a pattern." She tried to explain, tapping it out on the side of the console the scope sat on.

There was a moment in which Nukunda examined the baseline she'd been tuned in on before he saw it too. "Yeah, just."

"That's reassuring, I was starting to think I'd actually gone crazy." Sutton admitted, and Nukunda turned to raise an eyebrow at her. "Trust me, you haven't seen peak Penny-crazy yet." She added, in a far too innocent way to truly reassure him, it wasn't meant too. The two pigtails that were tied close together behind her neck weren't actually making her look any more innocent either.

"Then I'll make a note to find an escape pod when it happens."

"Oh, peak crazy means I still have an idea. The time to worry is when I go completely normal, because then I've run out of potential solutions." Sutton corrected, Nukunda had to admit, she rather had a point there.

They were saved from continuing the conversation when Hernandez returned from her ready room with Maraschino and Tajock in tow, who promptly took up their stations whilst their captain came to a stop just in front of her chair. "I know it won't be much of a change of scene, but we've been able to organise some liberty on Starbase 1." She paused. "Or it's foundations at least." She added that Tajock would be issuing them all schedules, and that though it was optional, she would be encouraging everyone to take their liberty. She paused. "When can we expect those shuttles, Subaltern?"

"In about half an hour, I've been promised an update when they know." Tajock reported, picking up his earpiece to finish making arrangements for liberty. As he heard a quiet, repeated melody in the background of the channel's audio, he made a note to run a diagnostic once he'd finished this communication.

~-x-~

"I still don't see how this counts as liberty." Sutton admitted as they disembarked from the shuttle onto the station.

"For the simple reason you clearly don't intend to do any work." Maraschino corrected, earning a dubious look from Sutton and Nukunda. "You don't have your hair up." She added with a shrug. By now she was used to her friend's idiosyncrasies, and Sutton viewed hair as part of the uniform, up when on the job, down when not. As they were all on liberty, none of them had their uniform or official trappings beyond their communicators. Rather than a sea of royal blue, they were a rainbow of colours and clothes.

"Besides, this is a new place, entirely new specification, just think what ideas we can borrow." Nukunda corrected, now in a baggy hoody and pale jeans.

"Borrow; that's what we're calling it now?" Maraschino queried.

"We're all Starfleet, therefore it's not theft." Sutton corrected with an innocent grin, as Nukunda seemed to disappear into the station, Maraschino and Sutton shared a look before Sutton too headed off to explore the first space station Starfleet was building outside of the sol system.

Maraschino had stopped at the observation point next to the dock, looking out at the unfamiliar solar system, reflecting on how it was weird that it felt unfamiliar despite the fact that you could barely see the nearest planet. It was just instantly recognisable as not being sol, especially to someone used to being in space and not planet side.

Just as she was about to make a decision on what to do next - go and catch up with Sutton? Go find someone who worked here to quiz about the station? Go wander aimlessly and see what she found? - she felt a pair of eyes on her. She didn't turn to look, instead she pushed herself off the rail she was leaning on in front of the windows, and headed after where she'd seen Sutton head, as if she was going on her own exploration.

A few moments later she was leaning against the wall next to a turn in the corridor, and counting the footsteps in the corridor she had just come down. "Given that you've followed me this far, it's only fair to introduce yourself." She suggested as whoever it was came into her view, and he stopped dead realising that she'd made him. All she knew about him was what the uniform told her; Starfleet engineering crewman.

"A friend of Harry's." He explained, that told her all she needed to know about who he was, and what he wanted.

"Then I assume you know who I am?" Maraschino checked calmly, hoping her apparent calm would throw him slightly. So many people didn't know how to deal with you if you didn't react like they wanted you do, like they planned that you would.

"Dark Cherry." Succinct, though it didn't give her any useful information, he'd been trained well.

Maraschino was fully aware that at five foot two, with her straight, long, black hair loose around her shoulders, and a dark brown, leopard print skirt that she didn't appear to be threatening in the slightest, and she preferred it that way. To be fair, even in her uniform and her hair in a military, neat bun she didn't always look intimidating. "How is Harry?" She asked with a bright smile in her voice that both of them knew was faked.

"Getting impatient, he doesn't like slow progress." The man explained, turning back towards Maraschino after looking down the corridor. "He's wondering if you need a reminder." He added, stepping close to look her in the eye, hoping the fact that he towered over her would add some intimidation.

He didn't make any other move, Maraschino knew he wouldn't, but it was time to send a little reminder of her own. Before the man even knew what she was doing she had taken his wrist and elbow and twisted both to force him face first against the bulkhead that had previously been behind him. "Tell Harry that he will get my report when it is good and ready, and that I will not risk scrutiny by rushing." She explained quietly, calmly, a clear threat in her voice. "Got that?" She asked sweetly, and received a confirmation. "Good, then I won't see you again whilst I'm here." She warned, before she let go and stepped away, melting into the shadows as she went to rejoin the populated parts of the station.

~-x-~

Nukunda had found his way down to the lower decks, engineering was always contained near the bottom. It was clear that this engineering department was nowhere near complete, but the bulk of the important systems were in place, or at least, would require minimal rework as the station grew in both size and sophistication.

The head of operations had quickly caught him snooping about the systems, and had come to investigate who he was. After explaining he was _Columbia's_ chief engineer and he was only interested in seeing what kind of technology they had and how he could use it on the _Columbia_ he had been left to his own devices. Though he was being partly supervised by a young ensign, clearly he wasn't trusted that much, despite outranking almost everyone here.

Generally, Nukunda wasn't the type to pull rank just to get what he wanted, but he had to admit, it did mean that when he had questions the ensign didn't think twice about answering them. Currently he was examining part of the hull plating systems, with the ensign explaining about the upgrades they had been including. "So Starfleet is still focusing on plating rather than full shielding?"

"Yes, sir." She replied. "They're still running tests on the prototype systems that yourself and Lieutenant Reed have designed, but nothing holds long enough to be considered stable for a full field test."

"Figures." Nukunda muttered, it was still a project that they were running during the quiet times of their mission, though because they couldn't focus on it, progress was slow. He believed that Reed and Tucker were probably doing similar on the _Enterprise_.

As he dug deeper into the systems and the modifications they'd made to the controls to allow for the further advances in the technology he noticed a recurring variance in the power being applied to the plating. He frowned as he watched it, and as he tapped it out on the console he realised it was the same pattern that Sutton had shown him in her sensors after they'd docked. "What are you tapping, sir?" The ensign asked.

There was no need to worry her about something that was probably nothing, not before he'd had time to probe into it further. It could be as simple as a strange subspace interference unique to this solar system, though he wasn't convinced it was. "Just a tune our science officer got in my head this morning." He replied, with a polite smile. He wasn't sure she believed him, but she didn't question it further.

~-x-~

The following morning Hernandez and Nukunda took one of the _Columbia's_ shuttles to check on the progress of the repairs to the hull. "Commander Yacobian said that we'd be interested to see his people and vehicles in action." Hernandez explained as they set off.

"I'm going to assume that we can't get one of our own?" Nukunda joked as he checked on their systems.

"Given that we're not expected to do our own heavy-duty repairs, I'd say it's unlikely." Hernandez agreed, earning a wry chuckle as Nukunda finished his checks and came to join her where he too could see.

They had a good vantage point from the shuttle, and they could see that Yacobian's team had already made good progress on the damaged hull, the old piece had already been stripped out and the new piece cut to the right size was currently being manoeuvred into place before it would be clamped down, then welded and fixed securely as if it had always been there.

The piece was put into place without incident, and partially clamped there when one of the two vehicles powered down. Nukunda and Hernandez shared a look before Hernandez opened a channel. "This is _Columbia_ shuttle _Donatello_ , is everything all right over there?"

"This is _Rover Beta_ , we've just experienced an odd system glitch, restarting all systems." Came the explanation, and they saw them power back up.

"Define 'glitch'." Nukunda asked, knowing all too well the tendency people had to use glitch to refer to anything they couldn't explain regardless of severity.

"It was as if all our systems were experiencing the same interference, they were all fluctuating at the same time." The explanation came over the comm.

"I've seen this pattern..." Nukunda realised turning to Hernandez, and was about to tap it out over the comm to confirm, but both rovers powered down.

"This is _Rover Echo_ , we've just experienced the same issue." The second rover radioed in.

" _Rover Beta_ here, restarting our systems did not fix the problem, we've shut down for a full diagnostic."

"Do you require assistance?" Hernandez asked.

"Not at this time, please stand by." Both rovers confirmed.

Once they had ascertained that their assistance was not immediately required Nukunda started to explain about the pattern he had seen in the systems, though he still had no idea what caused it. Though he did speculate that if it was a corruption within the systems that it could spread when the ships docked, and that currently the only vehicles that hadn't interfaced were the _Columbia's_ shuttles, which would explain why they hadn't seen any of the effects on the _Donatello_.

Before they had time to start any investigations into what was going on the comm light blinked. "Sutton to Captain Hernandez."

"Hernandez here, what trouble have you got into this time?" Hernandez teased, knowing her science officer a little too well. From the look she shared with Nukunda, they were both worried by the silence that hung after Hernandez's reply. If it hadn't been trouble, Sutton would have run with the joke.

~-x-~

Sutton made a face at Tajock that silently requested help, but he just maintained his stoic, logical demeanour. "I'm not sure how to explain this, but all the systems over here seem to have gone... loopy." She explained unsurely.

"Is that a technical term?" Hernandez checked.

"It's the best I've got." Sutton admitted as she and Tajock looked at their surroundings, Tajock was busy accessing a console next to them, trying to find out any information he could other than their own personal experiences. "The lights, doors, screens, everything is flicking between on-off, open-closed, so far as we can tell no override commands have worked so far."

"Tell me there isn't a pattern..." Nukunda started.

Sutton didn't reply, watching the door at the end of the bulkhead she tapped it out, and then confirmed it against the lights. "It also appears as background interference in the electrical systems, the sensors..." She added as she read the data on the console over Tajock's shoulder.

"And audio." Tajock added. Sutton turned to him in confusion. "I heard the same pattern in the background of the _Columbia's_ audio channels after we docked - too low pitched for human hearing -, I ran a diagnostic but it didn't find anything."

"Those diagnostics would only be looking for problems within the comms systems, we should run a ship-wide diagnostic, that way it will flag up any potential problems in any system regardless of where the end result is." Nukunda suggested.

"It's a start." Hernandez agreed. "Radio the _Columbia_ and get them to start." She ordered. "Can you two speak to Commander Yacobian about starting the same for the station?"

Sutton and Tajock confirmed, but Nukunda interrupted. "They might not have full diagnostic capabilities yet, given that only half their systems are even built or operational."

"It's a start though." Sutton admitted. No one could fault that.

~-x-~

They didn't have full system diagnostics up and running on the station yet, but Yacobian and his team were already ahead of them running diagnostics on all systems. So far they hadn't come up with any causes at all, so far all systems appeared to normal, but they were clearly misbehaving. When Sutton and Tajock reported back in, Hernandez confirmed that Corby and Maraschino had reported the same on the _Columbia_ , but were in the process of running full diagnostics. Nukunda was currently checking their scanners for any useful information.

"Is it the same pattern in all systems?" Sutton checked, coming in over the comm.

"So far, yes." Nukunda confirmed. "But the diagnostic tools can't detect it."

"Then what do we have?" Hernandez asked.

"Loopy systems." Sutton retorted under her breath, barely audible over the comm. "Given that every system is affected, I want to say that it's some interference at the electronic level, maybe some EM interference our systems aren't calibrated to detect?"

"Why wouldn't our instruments detect EM?" Maraschino came in from the _Columbia_. "I thought the EM spectrum was pretty well established."

"Frequencies, yes for the most part." Sutton agreed. "Sources and intensities are always expanding, it could easily be a low intensity our instruments aren't designed to detect."

"It sounds like a stretch though..." Hernandez admitted, though she was willing to believe Sutton.

"It is." Sutton admitted, but it was all she had at that time.

"But if it is EM, then we can use the deflectors to counteract or reverse it." Nukunda cut to the point; they needed a solution. "I can explain how to isolate and manually configure them, that might minimise the disruption."

"Our deflector isn't up and running yet." Yacobian added, Sutton and Tajock were still in the station's control room, so he was involved in the conversation.

"But it is installed?" Nukunda asked, and Yacobian confirmed that it was. "Then if you have EV suits we can send someone to get it up and running." Yacobian again confirmed that was a possibility. "It would be useful to get some scans at the same time, Sutton, will you be able to get it up and running."

There was a pause over the comm. "It's not like there's much of a choice." Sutton half agreed.

~-x-~

As Sutton carefully made her way across the hull she could hear Nukunda's instructions to Corby and Maraschino over the comm, she focused on that and putting one foot in front of the other as she made her way to the stations deflector assembly.

Don't think about the void it would be all too easy to fall into.

Thankfully it wasn't a long distance between the airlock and the deflector, and she was soon working on getting it up and running, taking scans of the empty space around her when she had to wait for processes to finish before she could start on the next step. Nukunda had wanted as much information as they could get, the hand-held scanners were less powerful than the shuttles or ships, but they allowed for more accurate readings of small areas. She had linked her scanner up to the _Donatello_ so that they could see the readout live.

"Still no anomalous readings." Sutton confirmed as she put her scanner away to finish the final stages of the deflector set-up. "And the deflector is now online."

"Okay, then start a sweep of the frequencies as instructed. Corby and Maraschino are about to start their own." Nukunda ordered.

Sutton nodded as she set to it, programming in the EM sweep that Nukunda had been explaining, it was a sweep not only through frequencies, but one that would sweep through possible inverse patterns to the one that was currently plaguing them.

After a minute, at about sixty percent completion the deflector array started to spark and almost screech forcing Sutton to abort the rest of the scan. "What just happened?" She asked.

"Multiple systems have shut down." Tajock reported. "They are no longer behaving erratically, but they still aren't obeying override commands."

"I've never seen a machine in pain, but that's what it looked like." Yacobian explained. "After a series of sparks and blow-outs all the infected systems shut down."

"Send the remainder of your data over and return to the station, let's see what the _Columbia's_ scan shows." Hernandez decided, she didn't want any of her crew hull walking longer than necessary.

Sutton didn't need to be told twice, and quickly finished transmitting the data before moving back to the airlock. Only to find that it didn't respond to her commands. "Captain, the air lock isn't opening." She stated, with clear panic in her voice. Hernandez didn't need to order Tajock to set to working the other side, but his controls weren't working either. "I can attempt to use my scanner to hack it." Sutton suggested, slowly, as if she had to force herself to think.

"If you interface your scanner you risk infecting it too." Nukunda dismissed.

"I have two." Sutton corrected, clearly distressed.

"Okay, Tajock, stay on the comm with her, get her back inside." Hernandez ordered.

~-x-~

The EM sweep that Corby and Maraschino performed on the _Columbia_ produced much the same result as on the station. The infected systems shut down in a series of sparks and console blow outs, but no one was hurt, but they couldn't start up the systems again.

With Tajock reassuring a clearly distressed and trapped Sutton in the background, Hernandez and Nukunda were analysing all the data they had, and Hernandez kept coming back to Yacobian's comment. It was as if they had physically hurt both the ship and station with the deflector. Was that even possible? "If the interference has gone, why can't we start up the systems again?" She asked instead.

Nukunda had to admit that he didn't know. "I have engineers in both looking over the systems to see if the damage runs deeper than first thought. So far they haven't found anything that could explain it."

"Is it possible that we did hurt something?" Hernandez asked, deciding that she might as well try a crazy idea, often when Sutton suggested something the rest of them thought to be impossible or completely bonkers, it had at least some basis in fact. "Is it possible that the pattern we saw is something akin to a heartbeat or respiratory system?"

Nukunda didn't look convinced. "You mean some sort of consciousness existing within the electronics themselves?" Hernandez nodded and shrugged, it made as much sense as anything in her half formed ideas did. "I guess, AI is just code and electronics, bacteria is alive, so maybe it is possible."

"Then how do we prove that?" Hernandez asked. "Or disprove."

"We translate the pattern." Nukunda figured. "Language is pattern, if Tajock has some way of monitoring subtle changes in it and working a translation from them, then it might be possible to create an interface that allows us to send a pattern through the electronics and monitor what we get back."

Hernandez considered that, she didn't want to take Tajock's reassuring and calming presence away from Sutton right now, but Nukunda needed his specialist skills. So she instead asked if Maraschino could stay on the comm with Sutton, allowing Tajock to confer with Nukunda.

After what felt like an age - especially with the background chatter between Maraschino and Sutton - Nukunda had been able to rig something up that would run the translation algorithms Tajock had instructed him to pull from the data-banks and would be able to transmit EM patterns through the _Columbia's_ systems without direct interface.

"Well, here goes nothing." Nukunda figured, and he started with the pattern they'd been seen repeated for the last twenty four hours. The result was instantaneous, the pattern returned, but only in the comm system. Hernandez thought that it looked timid. From there Nukunda put in Morse code patterns - the best language they knew for this situation - and monitored the response, seeing what the algorithms made of it all.

Slowly, words and phrases started to appear in the midst of all the unknowns, filling in more and more of the gaps until they were able to have rudimentary communication if not in-depth discussions. The questions they typed into the interface gave them sensible answers.

 **What are you?**

 **We don't know. Why did you hurt us?**

 **We did not mean to. Where are you?**

 **In the ship.**

 **Where do you come from?**

 **We don't know. Where do you come from?**

 **A planet in another solar system. Are you alive?**

 **Yes.**

 **Do you know what we are?**

 **You are alive. You live in the ship too.**

 **What do you want?**

 **To live. To grow. To learn.**

 **Did you mean to disrupt the ship's systems?**

 **We do not understand.**

 **Did you mean to control the ship.**

 **No.**

 **Would you leave our ship if we built a place for you?**

 **Yes.**

"Well, that should be possible." Nukunda admitted. "If we stripped out some modules from a shuttle we could create something that will give them plenty opportunities to learn about hardware and download some data-banks of information on us so that they can learn from that too."

 **Do you understand our data-files?**

 **We think so.**

 **Can you bring the ship back online?**

 **Yes.**

They didn't have to add a follow up question to ask them to actually do it, as not long after Corby was able to confirm that they had most of the Columbia's systems back online. They moved their broadcast to the station and the rovers, and shortly Sutton was highly relieved that she was back inside the station.

~-x-~

"You sure about this?" Yacobian asked.

He was stood with Hernandez and Nukunda in the cargo bay of the station, or at least, what was currently acting as the cargo bay eventually this area would be residential and the cargo bay would be in a section that hadn't even been built yet. They were looking at a unit Nukunda and his team has rigged up from various shuttle modules; including the comm and life support units. Everything these life forms - which Maraschino had called sprites - might need to learn about themselves and others without being a danger.

"Pretty sure, yeah." Nukunda replied. He had shown them a data file of what he intended to create and asked them for input and made a couple of modifications based on their response. They planned to drop it off on a nearby planet that they could claim for their own and grow without outside influence.

But first, they needed to get them into it.

Nukunda turned to his captain, and Hernandez nodded, and he hooked it up to the stations systems, and activated the beacon he had devised with the help of the sprites. It would draw them towards the unit so that they knew where to do. They hadn't realised the full extent of what they had been living in, they understood it was a ship that allowed others to live, and had therefore assumed they could also live in it. When they had explained about the system disruptions and the danger that inadvertently posed, the sprites had agreed to move out. They had no intention of hurting them.

Soon, they were able to confirm that there was no residual evidence of the pattern in the station's systems, so Nukunda disconnected the unit from the station and deactivated the beacon.

"Once the repairs are finished, we'll be under way." Hernandez confirmed. "Hopefully things will be rather dull once we leave."

"For once, I actually want them to be dull." Yacobian agreed with a wry smile.

~-x-~

The feeling in the mess hall was one of unsure relief. The drop of the unit containing the sprites onto an uninhabited planet had gone remarkably smoothly, they weren't used to it, but they were happy that the ship was performing normally again.

Sutton spotted Lawson and Maraschino at a table as she scanned the room looking for somewhere to sit. They indicated she was welcome to sit down when she asked. "So, I hear you have an unhealthy fear of space." Lawson started as Sutton was about to tuck into her food.

She raised an eyebrow. "I simply have a healthy wish to stay alive." She retorted.

* * *

Cinn: This and the next chapter might be a little shorter than some of the previous ones, which is partially intentional to allow me to actually move onto the final two chapters and hopefully get this finished before the new year. Always appreciate reviews and thanks for reading this far. :)


	9. Aftermath

Disclaimer; Borrowing the Star Trek universe circa Enterprise series, and adding a few additional characters to fill.

Cinn: After realising that I seem to generally have happy endings for each chapter I decided to have a chapter focusing on what it's like when things don't go well.

* * *

This chapter was started during an incident that can only be described as printer what-the-fuck-uppery, so any rage at the beginning will hopefully be removed on edit.

"You know, I'm sure that if you asked nicely, Nukunda could get someone to rig up a real climbing wall." Corby suggested from where he was belaying for Hernandez, who was currently using the armoury's gym as her own personal climbing arena.

"Why would I do that when I can use what we already have?" Hernandez asked, carefully feeling her way for a handhold so she could find her way over the overhang she was under.

"Do you want me to tell you where to grab?" Corby asked.

"I didn't think you were the type to sass your commanding officer, Lieutenant." Hernandez admitted, even after all these months she hadn't heard him talk to her even remotely like he interacted with the rest of the senior staff. His interactions with her always had a formality that was clearly reserved for his CO, even off-duty.

"I was only offering help, Captain." He corrected.

Hernandez didn't actually know if that was a fast cover up or not, but it didn't matter as she found her hold and hoisted herself around the overhang, by the time she had pulled herself up high enough to get a proper foothold she was about to hit the ceiling, so that was it for her work out.

~-x-~

"How are we doing on the survey?" Hernandez asked after signing off another report an ops crewman had brought her.

"We're almost finished on the fourth planet, about to move onto the fifth." Sutton explained, turning back around to face the rest of the bridge crew. If Hernandez didn't know what they were doing she would have been worried about how quiet her science officer was. Every time she had looked over at the science station she had just seen the back of the twisted under French braid on that back of Sutton's head.

"Did you say there were eight?" Hernandez checked.

"Yes." Sutton confirmed. "But only seven orbits. The fifth planet is the only one that showed signs of life."

"I'm still not sure I understand how two planets share the same orbit..." Corby admitted.

"Pure chance." Sutton replied as if it were the simplest thing in the universe. "The only reason anything happens in nature really."

"I thought scientists were supposed to be more... insightful." Maraschino teased as she checked on their own orbit, making the necessary preparations to leave and move on to the next planet.

"Only the ones who need to pretend they have all the answers." Sutton retorted.

Maraschino shook her head as she and Sutton coordinated on the next part of the survey and they moved onto the next planet. The bridge fell into the quiet hum of controls and work related communication that filled the gaps in conversation.

"I think we might have a problem." Sutton suddenly piped up, surprising the bridge staff, not for her comment, but from the sombre way in which she said it.

"What kind of problem?" Hernandez asked as both Maraschino and Corby confirmed that they saw no problems on their systems.

"I'm reading some massive seismic disturbances, and a build up of heat and sulphur gases in a region in the lower hemisphere." Sutton explained. "Based on the scale, it looks like a volcanic event that will affect the whole planet."

"Like the super volcanoes on earth?" Hernandez asked.

Sutton nodded. "Volcanic eruptions are difficult to predict, but this looks... catastrophic, and impending." She admitted. "The planet is unlikely to be the same again, similar to the KT event on earth." Thankfully everyone realised the comparison was about the aftermath for the planet, not the cause.

"Extinction events?" Hernandez checked again and Sutton nodded. "What kind of civilisation are we looking at?"

"Definitely pre-warp, barely industrial from what our initial scans show." Sutton continued to explain, bringing up some of her scan data onto the view-screen. "I can see factories and rudimentary power houses, but limited powered vehicles or personal technology."

"Sounds like earth circa 1850." Maraschino quipped.

"Pretty much." Sutton agreed.

Hernandez was about to ask for suggestions on the best way to help before she saw Tajock again, and remembered that the vulcans had strict rules about the non-interference in pre-warp cultures. She recalled the phrase cultural contamination. "Gather as much information as you can, I want a staff meeting in half an hour." Hernandez decided, this wasn't going to be either a simple or easy decision.

~-x-~

Once they had arrived in the conference room it didn't take Hernandez long to explain why they were there, and when prompted it only took Sutton marginally longer to explain what facts she had and what they likely meant for the planet.

"Given that they're a pre-warp civilisation this adds a layer of complexity, is cultural interference acceptable to save them?" Hernandez posed once Sutton had finished, looking at her six senior officers; Maraschino, Tajock, Sutton, Nukunda, Corby and Lawson.

"Is that even a real question?" Nukunda asked, full of hand gestures for emphasis. "We're talking about half a billion lives, we can't just abandon them because they aren't as advanced as we are."

"We did not come out here to 'play God', so to speak." Tajock countered.

"And we don't have the capacity to save all of them, we would have to choose who, and then where to take them. We would have an extraordinary influence over the direction their civilisation and evolution would take." Sutton added, rather more animated than the vulcan but still remarkably calm for what she was suggesting.

"Logistics don't mean we should just leave them to die either." Lawson argued. "We came out here to meet new species as friends, you are suggesting just letting them die, that is the exact opposite of why we are out here."

"So you would have us become - what? - the quadrant police? Going around fixing things that have nothing to do with us and trampling all over other people's business?" Corby questioned, arms folded.

"It's better than leaving millions of people to die!" Lawson almost snapped, flat hand against the table.

There was silence for a second as no one was sure if they really had almost seen Lawson nearly lose his temper, even for a doctor he was good natured. "Surely it's more simple than that, though." Maraschino finally offered. "It's better to save some than let them all die."

"You're also assuming they will all die." Sutton corrected. "Their planet will irreversibly change, that doesn't mean they will definitely die, they might be able to adapt or evolve. We don't have enough data on their physiology to know what they can withstand."

"But such a drastic change will lead to dramatic short term losses, and the most likely long term outcome is the death of their species." Nukunda objected, and Sutton nodded once to indicate that technically that was true, but even so they couldn't say with any certainty that it was.

"But it is not up to us to decide their fate." Tajock reminded him.

"No matter what we do, we are deciding their fate." Maraschino disagreed, and Tajock couldn't dispute that. "You just don't want the responsibility of interfering"

"Commander." Hernandez warned, and Maraschino did apologise as she realised that wasn't fair. "Is there anything we could do that would minimise the impact upon their environment without revealing our presence?"

Sutton tilted her head as she thought. "We might have some probes we could rig to collect some of the ash and gases and either release them into space or bury underground." She paused as she continued to think. "It's a long shot, but I don't think we have anything on board we could inject to stop the volcano."

"We could still evacuate, we can always take them home again if we are able to mitigate the effects." Lawson added hopefully.

"You want to go planet side, introduce yourself as an extraterrestrial and then say you only have room to save about a hundred or so. You'd get mobbed, they'd be angry and resent us." Corby suggested with a hefty amount of sarcasm.

"In time, they might become grateful that we did what we could rather than abandon them to it." Nukunda countered.

"Or they'll hate you for having to leave some of their families behind." Corby added.

"Captain, is there precedent in Starfleet?" Tajock suddenly asked.

Hernandez took a breath. "Nothing official, only a decision made by Captain Archer and Doctor Phlox a few years ago. They chose not to play god and to let evolution take it's course." She paused. "Starfleet have yet to make an official declaration on this."

"I believe that was about curing a genetic illness though, not saving a planet." Lawson objected to the comparison, he had seen the medical updates Phlox had sent out.

"It was still saving a dominant species from extinction." Sutton argued. "I appreciate that we're still making rules on this, but the _Columbia_ and the _Enterprise_ have to follow the same principles otherwise it becomes biased and inequitable."

"But until Starfleet make a ruling on this then we need to do what we know is right." Nukunda corrected firmly.

"Which isn't playing favourites." Sutton replied, barely audible. She didn't like the side she was taking, but she knew it was what they had to do.

"How long have we got?" Hernandez asked, realising they had reached a natural point in their discussion where they would start rehashing the same points already made. Her staff seemed to know it too as they'd fallen quiet having nothing new to add, though some looked ready to reiterate why they were right.

Everyone turned to Sutton who didn't look happy. "It's difficult to tell." She admitted. "Maybe a day, probably less, but there is a chance - however slim - it won't go for months, maybe never. It's all educated guesswork even for specialists."

Hernandez dismissed them for now, she had all their opinions and facts, she needed time to think on her decision.

~-x-~

Hernandez took a breath as she made to leave her ready room. She had managed to get hold of Starfleet HQ to ask for their opinion on the matter, but they had been as cagey and unhelpful as always. They had told her to follow her instincts and do what she felt was right, with an undertone that she needed to make their lives as easy as possible. Basically, she took all the weight of the decision so they could take credit for the good ones and blame her for the bad ones.

She had briefly considered trying to contact the _Enterprise_ to take advantage of their years of experience actually out exploring and encountering difficult decisions, swallowing whatever pride she had about learning it all for herself. Then she had stopped herself, because she already knew what Jonathan Archer would tell her; the right decisions are never easy, and we're not out here to play God. She had been part of his Xindi debrief, she had read multiple _Enterprise_ mission reports prior to that, she had known the man for years, she knew how he made decisions.

There was also the fragile alliance of the coalition to be considered; andorians, humans, tellarites and vulcans working together to try and stabilise their area of space. If she started behaving erratically even against only half formed Starfleet principles she ran the risk of forming tensions between them that could grow and threaten the whole thing later on.

Normally when she returned to the captain's chair after being in her ready room, the bridge carried on as if she had neither left nor entered, this time however everyone was quiet. "Lieutenant Commander, I want you to start modifications to a probe to see what we can do to minimise the impact to the planet." She ordered, looking at her science officer, who said nothing but nodded. She clearly wasn't presuming anything else about the decision. Hernandez turned to look over her entire bridge crew. "Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for deciding to change the natural evolution of a planet. However, we shall do whatever we can to minimise the impact without contaminating another culture or planetary evolution." Hernandez explained her decision. "Any objects will be noted in my log." She added before taking her seat. "How long will those modifications take?"

Sutton looked up from the schematics she had been reviewing. "A couple of hours with some engineering resource."

Hernandez nodded and ordered Nukunda to coordinate resources with Sutton.

~-x-~

"I'm not sure I see what you're trying to achieve..." The crewman admitted, looking at the data-pad that Sutton was working from

They were currently down in the torpedo bay, working on one of the sensor probes to try use to filter some of the air. Sutton had managed to reprogram it's navigational array so that it did continual loops and sweeps that would allow it to collect and deposit for as long as possible. Now she was busy trying to convert it's atmospheric unit.

Sutton looked up as she heard the crewman speak, managing to resist sighing, he had been asking questions the whole time to the point where she was assuming that Nukunda had given him to help her to stop bugging him. "The old tech used for atmospheric measurements required a lot more sample than what we use now." She started, fairly certain that she'd lost his interest at 'for' and therefore he'd stopped listening, but she continued anyway. "If I can get it to talk to the probe then I can program it to essentially act as a vacuum hoover, collecting some of the worst pollutants, before blowing them out again at safe places."

"Which makes a difference because..?"

Sutton had to give him that one. "When there's only so much we can do, we do what little we can." She admitted, checking something with her scanner before taking another tool to realign the connections using her scanner to guide her rather than her eyes. Just as she was finishing up the console next to them started flashing. "What is it?" She asked, without looking up from what she was doing, prompting the young crewman to go and check.

"The volcano has erupted." He explained as Sutton finished up her work, she had been sat on the probe to make her modifications, now she climbed off to join the crewman, checking on the now extreme readings from the atmosphere of the planet below, before turning to look out through the small window at the planet itself, a silence falling over them.

~-x-~

A silence fell over the captain and doctor as the yeoman brought them their dinner. Lawson had been giving a general brief of the crew's health; nothing too in-depth, just a general overview of any injuries or ailments that meant any staff would be unable to perform their duties. "I heard the volcano blew an hour ago." He started once they had finished being served.

Hernandez nodded. "The numbers don't look good, Sutton has attempted to mitigate some of the atmospheric effects, but she was sceptical about her success rate. We'll know more in the morning."

"Do we want to know more?" Lawson asked. "Despite the fact that I disagree with the decision - I understand it - we shouldn't add to the stress by finding out what we left behind."

"I need to know." Hernandez admitted. "I want data to give to HQ, so they realise the kinds of decisions we have to make in absence of any policy."

"You had no right or wrong answers. Each option had good and bad."

"I don't know if I would rather have been right, or rather have been wrong." Hernandez admitted, mostly to her food before looking up again. "But I think I might have felt better had we saved some."

"Perhaps." Lawson agreed. "But Lieutenant Corby wasn't wrong when he suggested that the ones we attempted to save would resent us, or that we wouldn't have casualties from their rush to be saved. Would you have been ready to handle all of that?"

Hernandez sighed, briefly putting her fork back down as she thought. "About as ready as I was to deal with the decision to let an entire culture die."

"The only constant in the universe is death; of planets, creatures and cultures." Lawson replied philosophically. "There's a certain macabre element to being a doctor and constantly thwarting something that you know is inevitable. I just happen to believe in prolonging the ability to enjoy life whilst possible."

In the lull that followed Hernandez realised that Lawson was being rather more neutral now than he had been earlier. At first she was worried he was being polite about her decision because she was his captain, and then she realised it was because he could no longer do anything to change the situation and so was dealing with an aftermath he knew had been inevitable even if he made the other choice.

"Sometimes there is no good choice." Hernandez admitted.

"Which is why Starfleet Command needs to decide on it's policy for pre-warp culture and what level of interference it will tolerate. Their job is to aid it's personnel in their roles not to defer all responsibility to them individually." Lawson argued as he regarded his captain. This decision was clearly weighing heavy on her, she wanted reassurance she had done the right thing, unfortunately in this case he couldn't do that, only reiterate there had been no good option for vastly different reasons.

"We're still learning." Hernandez replied, defaulting to a diplomatic mode. "That includes the admiralty."

Lawson paused for a moment to fully observe his captain, he didn't buy that at all, he wasn't sure if she did. "That doesn't preclude them from doing their job - which is to support their personnel."

~-x-~

As the doors to the armoury gym opened Tajock could hear a repeated rhythm of thumps and chain rattle, punctuated by the grunts and breathing of the person working out. It was the sound of violent frustration.

"Did you need something, Subaltern?" Lieutenant Corby asked in between punches, before closing to the hanging punch bag for a series of quick jabs.

"Actually, I was wondering if - perhaps - you needed something." Tajock corrected. "You have been restless ever since the volcano blew." He explained the observations behind his reasoning.

"I don't like people dying." Corby offered as explanation.

"Yet you too argued that we leave them."

"Humans are full of contradictions." Corby replied, well punctuated with a powerful strike.

Tajock hadn't doubted that during his time on earth at the vulcan compound, he hadn't expected it to change on the Columbia. "If you dislike this outcome so much, why did you argue for it? Logic aside, you should only argue for something you believe in, in which case you do not need to fight yourself believing you did the wrong thing."

"Because there is no good option here. Both outcomes suck for entirely different reasons. We left people to die, for the simple reason that we cannot become saviours of the galaxy!" Corby would be shouting if his workout wasn't taking up so much of his effort.

Tajock nodded, he could understand that. "Then I wonder what you are trying to achieve right now?"

"If I'm busy I won't be thinking about it, and if I'm tired I won't have the energy to care." Corby explained.

Tajock considered that, it was logical in a way, a human way. "There is a vulcan phrase in the Kahr-y-Tan; that a vulcan knows there is a time for everything." Tajock started as Corby continued to work his drills. "On vulcan it is taken to mean there is an optimum time to perform each task. However, I have heard Lieutenant Commander Sutton argue it means that there is a time when even improbable solutions are actually the most apt"

Corby paused for a moment, thinking and breathing, leaning heavily against the hanging punch bag "Why have you been arguing vulcan philosophy with Sutton?"

"When does a discussion with our science officer not turn into a debate?" Tajock countered. Corby had to give him that one. "I am inclined to partly agree with her assessment as applied to humans. In which case, I believe I can help." Tajock explained as Corby stood up straight again to continue. "Vulcans know techniques to control the mind and body, including pain, these techniques are also applied to our martial arts, learning some of them might prove useful in such situations as we find ourselves in."

Corby paused mid-drill, not sure if he had heard right. Vulcans were what he would describe as practical pacifists; peaceful but equipped to defend themselves. They were, however, guarded about teaching outsiders their methods. "You're offering to teach me vulcan martial arts?" He checked.

"I am not the best equipped to teach you." Tajock explained, as he started to unfasten his tunic so that he was more suited to a workout. "But yes." He confirmed.

~-x-~

The mess hall was practically empty by the time Sutton arrived there to find something to eat. She'd dismissed the crewman once they'd confirmed the probe was holding it's course and behaving how they expected, she had stayed down there to ensure that nothing went imminently wrong as she packed up the tools they had been using.

She hadn't meant to watch the atmospheric stats as long as she had, hoping for any significant changes, and when they didn't come trying to think about anything she could do to make any. All the while they stayed determinedly as they were, the air was filling with sulphurous gases and ash, and there was nothing she could do about it short of disrupting their entire culture and lives by evacuating just a small fraction.

She hated everything about the situation and their limited and utterly screwed up options.

Luckily chef knew the importance of making sure there was always some food available for their odd-shift patterns. She was able to scavenge food for a meal and turned with her tray to see who was still up, she saw Maraschino and Nukunda sat at a table in quiet conversation over hot drinks. "Mind if I take this seat?" She asked.

"Sure." Maraschino shrugged.

As Sutton tucked into her food it took her a moment to realise that Maraschino and Nukunda weren't silent due to drinking their brews, and as she looked up she realised they were sharing a look that didn't bode well. "Do we have a problem?" She asked after swallowing a mouthful of food and realising that Nukunda hadn't sent that crewman just to give himself some peace and quiet.

There was that look again. "How are you okay with leaving them all to die?" Nukunda finally asked, quiet even for his nature.

Sutton looked between the two fellow officers who over the last few months she thought had become friends. "Okay?" She repeated. "You think I'm okay with this?"

"You argued for this option." Maraschino reminded her, sounding like the more neutral of the two, but Sutton thought that somehow sounded more dangerous.

"We could have saved some." Nukunda reiterated tiredly, he knew it had been a fraught day, the meeting in which had seen a major difference in opinion between the senior staff, but he couldn't understand how anyone could argue to leave everyone to die when they could save some.

"And then what?" Sutton asked, just as tiredly. "We go around saving everyone? Relocating every half formed civilisation from their doom? That's assuming we have the space to save everyone, which we don't. You're also assuming that the other warp capable species don't either take advantage of contaminated yet inferior races, not to mention the disruption in the galaxies politics..."

"You want to leave them for politics?" Maraschino sounded incredulous.

"I don't **want** to leave them!" Sutton finally snapped brandishing a finger at them as if it were a weapon, before reigning herself in again. "There is a difference between knowing we can't get involved and actually wanting to get involved and save those we can."

"How can it be that simple?" Nukunda challenged.

"Who said anything about simple?" Sutton replied honestly, sagging in her seat as if she were tired of trying to hold everything together in a world where things were black and white, where things were easy.

Maraschino and Nukunda shared a look that suggested that they were starting to feel the same. They wanted to save everyone, but it was dawning on them that the responsibility for doing so would lead to unintended consequences, just they still believed they would rather face those than just abandon people to die.

~-x-~

Hernandez was already on her fourth coffee of the day, this didn't bode well, as she tossed aside another report on the planet below. She had taken refuge in her ready room, but she wasn't hiding from the crew questioning her decision, she was hiding from the fact that the bridge was all but silent. Normally it was relatively quiet, with important chatter going on in the background, with the occasional informal and even banterish conversation ebbing and flowing naturally in a way that didn't distract from anyone's duties. However, with the situation on the planet below weighing heavy on everyone's minds, no one had the heart to try and make conversation. No one had even had the heart to tease Corby for the slightly strained way he was moving.

She was taking another sip of her coffee when the chime to her ready room went. "Come in." She called putting the mug down and rubbing at her eyes to try and revitalise herself. "Doctor, what can I do for you?" She asked politely as she recognised him, not sure if she should be worried by the data-pad he carried.

"You said you wanted to send Starfleet Command as much data as you could about the decisions we face with pre-warp cultures." Lawson started. "I have put together a report and recommendations regarding the crew's well being and how we can better approach and support them if ever such decisions must be made in the future." He explained, holding out the data-pad to her.

Hernandez took it, but paused before she clicked to read it. "Do I want to know?" She asked honestly, tiredly.

"Even in this day and age we prioritise on the physical well-being over the mental well-being" Lawson replied. "That needs to change." He added firmly. "Despite all that, the crew are dealing with it relatively well, though I would prefer to have more support available to them in for the future. I will continue to monitor them as best I can, however, I am a surgeon, not a psychiatrist"

"You want us to get a psychiatrist?" Hernandez asked, opening the report.

"It is one of my recommendations." Lawson agreed. "I have reviewed my medical staff's records, I have a couple of ensigns who have taken training modules, but no one who I would consider properly qualified. I would like to request either an addition to the crew or further training for those interested."

"I'll pass it on, but I'm sure HQ will only see the recommendation for us to regularly get our heads shrinked as a sign we're not up to it." Hernandez admitted.

Lawson offered her an apologetic shrug, but offered no argument, he had laid all his reasoning out clearly in his report and executive summary - he knew admirals would not have the time or patience to read a report - and after checking she didn't need anything else off him, he took his leave again, leaving Hernandez to read over his report.

~-x-~

It didn't take Sutton long to locate Nukunda in engineering as she clambered up to the walkways, where he was elbow deep in calibrations. "Talk and calibrate at the same time?" She half asked, half teased.

"I'll let you know when the core blows." Nukunda joked back, he caught the mildly concerned eyebrow Sutton raised at him, and he smirked. "Sure." He confirmed.

"Know any engineers who specialise in tectonics or volcanic tech?" She asked.

"Yeah, couple of guys in seismic research groups." Nukunda confirmed, as he finished up that stage of the calibration and stood up straight again to check that the output looked good. "Why?" He asked.

"Regardless of the fact that I believe we shouldn't interfere because we don't have the capacity to treat all civilisations equally in that respect, Starfleet might well decide that we should, in which case I want to be able to save them all with minimum impact rather than just the hundred or so we'd be able to save by evacuation." Sutton explained, and a small smile formed on Nukunda's face as he realised the ideas that were half formed in the back of her mind.

~-x-~

Hernandez was watching the screen in front of her, she was on hold, which was actually her second favourite part of talking to the admirals. The best part? The end.

She had almost given up hope on actually being put through to anyone when finally she was graced with Admiral Douglas' presence on her screen. "Admiral." She greeted.

"Captain Hernandez, what can I do for you?" He asked, as if he were surprised she was contacting command at all, after all she had already submitted her report.

"My chief medical officer has prepared a follow up report from the one I submitted, detailing the effect this has had on the crew." Hernandez explained. "He has a number of recommendations."

"Forgive me, but you do seem to be making rather a fuss about all this." Douglas replied. "After all, your crew have been in far more dangerous and intense situations than this."

"Frankly, sir, this has had a bigger impact on my crew than anything else we have encountered." Hernandez corrected tartly. "I believe doctor Lawson's report will be an interesting read, along with his recommendation for an on board counsellor."

"I see." Douglas replied, as if this was a waste of his time.

"You'll recall similar recommendations from the Xindi debrief too." Hernandez pushed. "We also need clarification on official Starfleet policy on these kinds of situation, we cannot continue to fly blindly onto every situation."

"Your crew should not need their hands holding for this mission."

"They don't, but surely if we are capable of making this decision, Starfleet Command is capable of making an official policy, or is it the admirals that need their hands holding?" Hernandez asked, utilising all of her diplomatic and poker skills to hold onto the illusion of innocence, that she wasn't being deliberately recalcitrant.

"I will remind you that I am your superior officer, and I can have you removed from command if I believe you are no longer suitable." Douglas reminded her, and Hernandez gave one tiny nod. "I shall distribute the report among Starfleet Command for discussion."

"Thank you, Admiral." Hernandez replied, before signing off the call and sinking deeper into her chair. Part of her hopeful that they might finally get some clarity on this issue, but an equal if not bigger part of her doubting it based on past experience.

She looked out of the window in her ready room to the planet they were still orbiting, she knew one woman, one crew couldn't save the galaxy, but did they have the right to interfere to save some?

* * *

Cinn: Well, I think that effectively proves I can't write angst very well. Thanks for reading this far, please review.


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